Not legal, tax, or investment advice. Data comes from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date; confirm with the county before bidding.

Ohio

OH

The investor buys a lien on the property. The owner keeps title and can redeem by paying the lien plus interest or penalty.

Sale type

Tax lien

Redemption

Not documented

Interest / penalty

Bid-down · 18%

Sale timing

Varies

Rules in plain English

Sale type

Tax lien

The investor buys a lien on the property. The owner keeps title and can redeem by paying the lien plus interest or penalty.

O.R.C. 5721.32

“The county treasurer may offer the tax certificates for sale in blocks of tax certificates, consisting of any number of tax certificates as determined by the county treasurer”
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Redemption period

Not documented

Not documented

O.R.C. 5721.38

“At any time prior to payment to the county treasurer by the certificate holder to initiate foreclosure proceedings”
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Interest / penalty

Bid-down · 18%

Bidding starts at a maximum rate of 18% per year and goes down.

O.R.C. 5721.32

“shall begin the bidding at eighteen per cent per year simple interest, and accept lower bids in even increments of one-fourth of one per cent to the rate of zero per cent”
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Bid method

Bid down the interest rate

Bidders compete by offering the lowest interest rate rather than the highest price.

O.R.C. 5721.32

“The county treasurer, designee, or agent shall award the tax certificate to the person bidding the lowest certificate rate of interest”
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Sale schedule

Varies

Sale timing varies by county.

O.R.C. 5721.32

“may be conducted at any time after completion of the advertising of the sale under section 5721.31 of the Revised Code, on the date and at the time and place designated in the advertisements”
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Bidder process

  1. 01Watch for the advertisement of the foreclosure sale; each parcel is advertised and sold by the officer to whom the order of sale is directed in the manner provided by law for the sale of real property on execution (5721.19(B))
  2. 02Check the notice, which must state the date, time and place of the sale if it is held at a physical location, or the start date, minimum duration and web site address of the sale if it is held online, together with the deposit required by 2329.211 (2329.26(A)(2)(a))
  3. 03Bid on a parcel that the court, in its judgment of foreclosure under 5721.18, has ordered sold without appraisal, for not less than the county auditor's fair market value plus the costs of the foreclosure proceeding, or the total amount of the finding plus those costs (5721.19(A))
  4. 04Note that a parcel is adjourned to a second sale date if no bid reaches the minimum, and that the second sale is held between two and six weeks after the first offering, at the same place and time (5721.19(C)(1))
  5. 05Submit the sale deposit required by 2329.211: for residential property $2,000 where the appraised value is $10,000 or less, $5,000 where it is more than $10,000 and not more than $200,000, and $10,000 where it is more than $200,000; for commercial property, the deposit set for the sale (2329.211(A)(1), (B))
  6. 06Meet the deposit timing and other payment requirements set by the court or the person conducting the sale and stated in the advertisement, or the sale is invalid and the property may be brought to the provisional second sale date (2329.211(A)(2))
  7. 07If the sale is held online, pay the deposit by a financial transaction device (2329.211(A)(3))
  8. 08Submit the purchaser's identifying information to the officer who makes the sale, including contact details, financial transaction device information and whether the property will be used as residential rental property (2329.271(A))
  9. 09Pay the balance due on the purchase price within 30 days of the confirmation of the sale, or the court may forfeit the sale and the deposit on the officer's or an interested party's motion (2329.30)
  10. 10Before title is transferred, furnish the officer the 5721.19(J) affidavit about delinquent taxes, and, where the highest bidder is the former owner or a connected party, the affidavit required by 5721.19(A)
Registration
Not documented
Registration mode
Not documented
Registration deadline
Not documented
Registration fee
Not documented
Deposit required
Yes
Deposit amount
Not documented
Deposit percent
Not documented
Deposit refundable
Not documented
Sale format
hybrid
Payment deadline
the purchaser must pay the balance due on the purchase price within 30 days of the confirmation of the sale; failing to do so lets the court forfeit the sale and the deposit, proceed as for contempt, or take any other remedy it considers appropriate (2329.30)
Payment methods
unknown
Residency required
Not documented
  • The purchaser of lands and tenements taken in execution must submit identifying information to the officer who makes the sale (2329.271(A)(1)(a))
  • If the purchaser is an individual: name, mailing address (not a post office box), electronic mail address, telephone number and financial transaction device information; if an entity: legal name, trade name, state and date of formation, active status with the secretary of state, mailing address, telephone number, financial transaction device information, and an individual contact person with title and contact details (2329.271(A)(1)(a))
  • The purchaser must state whether the lands and tenements will be used as residential rental property, and if so name the trustee, executor, general partner, member, officer or similar person (2329.271(A)(1)(c)-(d))
  • Before title is transferred, the purchaser or the purchaser's authorized representative must furnish the officer an affidavit under 5721.19(J) addressing whether the purchaser, or a person owning or holding at least a 10 per cent interest in the purchaser, owns property in the county against which delinquent taxes are assessed; if the purchaser is an individual the affidavit gives the purchaser's primary residence address, and if not, the name and address of the purchaser's statutory agent (5721.19(J)(1)(c)-(d))
  • Where the highest bidder for a parcel sold under 5721.19 is the owner of record immediately before the judgment of foreclosure, or a member of that owner's immediate family or a related sole proprietorship, partnership, trust, business trust, corporation or association, the parcel may not be sold for less than the total amount found due plus the costs of the foreclosure proceeding, and the officer conducting the sale must require the buyer to complete an affidavit that the buyer is not that owner or connected party (5721.19(A))
  • Knowingly making a false statement in the affidavit required by 5721.19(J) is falsification under R.C. 2921.13(A)(11) (5721.19(K))

Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(A)

“In its judgment of foreclosure rendered with respect to actions filed pursuant to section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, the court or the county board of revision with jurisdiction pursuant to section 323.66 of the Revised Code shall enter a finding with respect to each parcel of the amount of the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and interest, and the costs incurred in the foreclosure proceeding instituted against it, that are due and unpaid. The court or the county board of revision shall order such premises to be transferred pursuant to division (I) of this section or may order each parcel to be sold, without appraisal, for not less than either of the following:”
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Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(B)

“Each parcel affected by the court's finding and order of sale shall be separately sold, unless the court orders any of such parcels to be sold together. Each parcel shall be advertised and sold by the officer to whom the order of sale is directed in the manner provided by law for the sale of real property on execution.”
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Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(C)(1)

“Whenever the officer charged to conduct the sale offers any parcel for sale and no bids are made equal to the lesser of the amounts described in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section, the officer shall adjourn the sale of the parcel to the second date that was specified in the advertisement of sale. The second date shall be not less than two weeks or more than six weeks from the day on which the parcel was first offered for sale. The second sale shall be held at the same place and commence at the same time as set forth in the advertisement of sale.”
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Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(J)(1)

“The officer charged with transferring title to property sold under this section may not transfer the title to a purchaser unless and until the purchaser or the purchaser's authorized representative furnishes the officer with an affidavit stating all of the following, as applicable:”
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Ohio Rev. Code 2329.211(A)(1)-(3)

“If the appraised value of the residential property is less than or equal to ten thousand dollars, the deposit shall be two thousand dollars. (b) If the appraised value of the residential property is greater than ten thousand dollars but less than or equal to two hundred thousand dollars, the deposit shall be five thousand dollars. (c) If the appraised value of the residential property is greater than two hundred thousand dollars, the deposit shall be ten thousand dollars. (2) The timing of the deposit and other payment requirements shall be established by the court or the person conducting the sale and included in the advertisement of the sale. If the purchaser fails to meet the timing or other requirements of the deposit, the sale shall be invalid and the residential property may be brought to sale on the provisional second sale date, if any, described in division (B) of section 2329.52 of the Revised Code, and included in the notice required by division (A)(1)(a)(i) of section 2329.26 of the Revised Code. (3) If the sale is held online, the deposit may be made by a financial transaction device as defined in section 301.28 of the Revised Code.”
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Ohio Rev. Code 2329.211(B)

“In every action demanding the judicial or execution sale of commercial property, the purchaser at the sale shall make a deposit pursuant to the requirements, if any, established for the sale.”
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Ohio Rev. Code 2329.26(A)(2)(a)

“The notice shall include all the following information: (i) The date, time, and place of the sale if the sale is to be held at a physical location; (ii) The start date, the minimum duration, and web site address of the sale if the sale is to be held online; (iii) The deposit required by section 2329.211 of the Revised Code;”
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Ohio Rev. Code 2329.271(A)(1)(a)

“If the purchaser is an individual, the information shall include the individual's name, mailing address, which shall not be a post office box, electronic mail address, telephone number, and financial transaction device information of the purchaser; (ii) If the purchaser is an entity, the information shall include the entity's legal name, trade name if different from its legal name, state and date of formation, active status with the office of the secretary of state, mailing address, telephone number, financial transaction device information, the name of an individual contact person for the entity, and the contact person's title, mailing address, which shall not be a post office box, electronic mail address, and telephone number.”
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Ohio Rev. Code 2329.271(A)(1)(d)

“A statement indicating if the purchaser intends to use the lands and tenements taken in execution as residential rental property.”
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Ohio Rev. Code 2329.30

“The court from which an execution or order of sale issues, upon notice and motion of the officer who makes the sale or of an interested party, may punish any purchaser of lands and tenements who fails to pay within thirty days of the confirmation of the sale the balance due on the purchase price of the lands and tenements by forfeiting the sale of the lands and tenements and returning any deposit paid in connection with the sale of the lands and tenements”
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Ohio Rev. Code 2329.27(B)(3)(a)(iii)

“That the purchaser has submitted the contact information required by section 2329.271 of the Revised Code.”
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Notes

Tax certificate conveys the lien (R.C. 5721.32, 5721.38). | Prose: lien | bid begins at 18%/yr simple interest, bid down to 0%; redemption interest 18%/yr (5721.38) | certificate period 3 to 6 years; redeemable until foreclosure initiated | public auction; award to lowest certificate interest-rate bid | varies by county