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CHICAGO, May 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — We did it again! Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said today that her office will be returning $2.7 million to homeowners who called the “Black and Latino Houses Matter” live phone bank she hosted with ABC 7 Chicago today, Wednesday, May 12.

In March, Treasurer Pappas and ABC7 Chicago returned $12.5 million to homeowners, raising the total amount to nearly $15.2 million.

Staff from the Treasurer’s Office, fluent in Spanish, Polish, Chinese and English helped homeowners find refunds, apply for property tax exemptions and avoid the annual Tax Sale of delinquent taxes.

“All houses matter, but I launched the ‘Black and Latino Houses Matter’ initiative because the Tax Sale disproportionately impacts people of color in the county” Pappas said. “Over 75 percentage of all properties are located in Black and Latino communities.”

Samantha Chatman, consumer investigative reporter with ABC 7’s I-Team, reported on the phone bank during the station’s morning, afternoon and evening newscasts.

Property owners who did not call the phone bank, may visit cookcountytreasurer.com to:

Search $76 million in available property tax refunds Check if they are eligible for $46 million in missing tax exemptions Verify if their property is on the Tax Sale list of delinquent taxes View original content: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/another-successful-phone-bank-as-pappas-and-chatman-of-abc-7-chicago-return-2-7-million-more-to-property-owners-301290341.html

SOURCE Cook County Treasurer’s Office