How to buy tax-sale property in Ohio (2026)

1. 1.Watch 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. 2.Check 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. 3.Bid 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. 4.Note 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. 5.Submit 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. 6.Meet 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. 7.If the sale is held online, pay the deposit by a financial transaction device (2329.211(A)(3))
8. 8.Submit 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. 9.Pay 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. 10.Before 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

Required: UnknownUnknown

Not verified from a source yet.

Deposit

Required: YesUnknown

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 (2329.211(A)(2))

Forms

Bidder ID card: UnknownW-9: Unknown

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))

Eligibility

Residency required: UnknownNo delinquent taxes: Unknown

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))

Payment

Unknown

Not verified from a source yet.

Sources

• Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(A)
• Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(B)
• Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(C)(1)
• Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(J)(1)
• Ohio Rev. Code 2329.211(A)(1)-(3)
• Ohio Rev. Code 2329.211(B)
• Ohio Rev. Code 2329.26(A)(2)(a)
• Ohio Rev. Code 2329.271(A)(1)(a)
• Ohio Rev. Code 2329.271(A)(1)(d)
• Ohio Rev. Code 2329.30
• Ohio Rev. Code 2329.27(B)(3)(a)(iii)

Ohio collects delinquent real property taxes by judicial foreclosure under R.C. 5721.18; the court's judgment of foreclosure fixes the amount due and orders each parcel sold, without appraisal, by the officer to whom the order of sale is directed, following the law for sales of real property on execution (5721.19(A)-(B)). The minimum bid is the county auditor's fair market value plus foreclosure costs or the total amount of the finding plus those costs, and a purchaser who turns out to be the former owner of record or a connected party must pay at least the full finding (5721.19(A)). Sales may be held at a physical location or online - the statutory notice must give either the date, time and place or the online start date, minimum duration and web site address - so the format is hybrid. Deposits are statutory for residential property ($2,000 / $5,000 / $10,000 by appraised value) and set for the sale for commercial property, with the timing fixed by the court or the person conducting the sale in the advertisement, and online deposits may be made by financial transaction device (2329.211). The winning purchaser must file identifying information with the officer (including an entity's secretary of state active status, contact details and financial transaction device information, and whether the property will be used as residential rental property) (2329.271), pay the balance within 30 days of confirmation (2329.30), and furnish a delinquency affidavit before title transfers (5721.19(J)). Enforcement is county by county, so county-level terms (registration mechanics, acceptable payment instruments, bidder premiums) are not set by the statutes cited here; see the Stark County (39151) record for a documented county procedure. Bidder registration, residency, taxpayer identification and W-9 are not addressed by these sections and are left unknown.