Redeeming Sold Property Taxes in Cook County

Where a Cook County tax redemption actually starts

When Cook County property taxes go unpaid long enough, they are sold at a tax sale. The house is not sold. What is sold is the tax debt, and the owner keeps title and keeps the right to clear that debt. Clearing it is what "redemption" means.

This article is part of our guide to being behind on property taxes in Illinois, which covers the wider sequence. Here we are answering one narrow question: who issues the number, and what does an owner have to ask for to get it.

The answer is the Cook County Clerk, and the thing to ask for has a name. It is called an Estimate of the Cost of Redemption, and the Clerk's tax redemption page explains what it is and how to request one.

Why the figure has to come from the Clerk

Everyone involved in a Cook County property has a number, and only one of them is the number that matters here.

The Treasurer bills and collects current taxes. The Assessor values the property. A mortgage servicer may hold an escrow. None of them can tell an owner what it costs to redeem a sold tax year, because that figure is not just the tax. It includes what was added when the debt was sold, and it changes over time on a schedule the Clerk applies.

That is the practical reason to stop guessing and ask. A figure from any other source is an estimate of an estimate, and the one that governs is the Clerk's, issued for a specific parcel and good until a stated date.

Two things worth having ready when you ask:

• The PIN. The parcel index number identifies the property in every county system. Our walkthrough on checking a Cook County tax status shows where to find it.
• Which years you are asking about. More than one tax year can be sold, and they do not have to be consecutive. The Clerk's delinquent property tax search covers earlier years by PIN, which is how an owner finds out whether the year they know about is the only one.

If the sale itself is the part that is unclear, we explained the mechanics separately in how the Cook County tax sale works.

The free legal help desk most owners have never heard of

The Clerk runs a Property Tax Redemption Legal Help Desk staffed by attorneys, and it is free.

That is not a small detail. Redemption has a deadline attached to it, the deadline can be extended in circumstances an owner is unlikely to know about, and the consequence of missing it is losing the property to a tax deed. An owner who is unsure what their own paperwork says should be talking to an attorney, and the Clerk runs a free one.

We are not a law firm and we do not advise anyone. We are naming the desk because a free attorney who does this every day is a better first call than an article, ours included.

What an owner can actually do

1. Get the Estimate of the Cost of Redemption. Ask the Clerk, by PIN, for the specific tax years. Everything else follows from that number and the date it is good until.
2. Check whether other years were also sold. The search above is by PIN and covers earlier years. Owners are often working from a single notice covering a single tax year.
3. Call the help desk. Free, staffed by attorneys, and specific to this subject.
4. Talk to your mortgage servicer if you have a loan. A servicer that escrows taxes may have already acted, or may need to be told. Either way they are a party to this.
5. Decide with the real numbers, not the feared ones. The redemption figure, what the house is worth, and what is owed against it are three separate facts, and each one has an office or a professional who can give it to you.

For a house elsewhere in the county the offices are the same, and our page on selling in Cook County covers how the county half of a sale fits together.

Frequently asked questions

Who issues the redemption figure in Cook County?

The Cook County Clerk. The document is called an Estimate of the Cost of Redemption, it is issued for a specific parcel and specific tax years, and it states the date it is good until. No other office can produce it.

Does redeeming mean buying my house back?

No. The owner never stopped owning the house. What was sold at the tax sale is the tax debt, and redeeming clears that debt. Title stays where it was unless the redemption period runs out and a tax deed is issued.

Can more than one tax year be sold on the same property?

Yes, and they do not have to be consecutive. That is why the by-PIN search matters: an owner working from a single notice can easily be looking at part of the picture.

If the numbers do not work out

Sometimes the arithmetic closes and sometimes it does not, and that is a real outcome rather than a failure. Redeeming, refinancing, listing with an agent, or selling the house as it stands are all paths, and which one is right depends on figures only you and the Clerk have.

Selling as-is to a private buyer is one option among several. If it is worth a look, our page on houses with taxes owed on them explains what we look at and how the county's figures fit into a closing. Take any number you get to an attorney or an agent and compare it against the alternatives before you decide anything.

Important notice: Fair Value Investments (a d/b/a of Probate Professionals of America, LLC) is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. You may stop doing business with us at any time and may reject any offer. If you stop paying your mortgage, you could lose your home and damage your credit rating. We do not provide foreclosure-rescue, loan-modification, or credit-repair services and cannot promise to save your home or stop a foreclosure. For free help, contact a HUD-approved housing counselor at 1-800-569-4287 or consumerfinance.gov/find-a-housing-counselor.

About this article: it is general information written by a home buyer, not by a lawyer or a housing counselor. Fair Value Investments (a d/b/a of Probate Professionals of America, LLC) is a private real-estate investor and home buyer purchasing property for our own account. We are not a licensed real estate broker, not a law firm, not a lender, and not a government agency, and nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice. Any offer is made at our discretion after we evaluate the property; a cash offer, if made, may be below market value. You are free to consult your own attorney, tax advisor, or a licensed real-estate professional before deciding. There is no fee to receive an offer and no obligation to accept.