Behind on property taxes in Ohio. Can I still sell my land?

How land goes delinquent in Ohio

Ohio property taxes are billed in two halves. State law sets the due dates at December 31 and June 20, but most counties extend them. In practice the first half is usually due between January and March, and the second half between June and August. Your county treasurer’s website shows the real dates.

If a half isn’t paid on time, the county adds a 10 percent penalty to it. Pay within 10 days of the deadline and half of that penalty comes off. Interest is then added to the unpaid balance twice a year.

After the second half collection closes, any parcel that still owes goes on the county’s delinquent land list. The county publishes that list in a local newspaper. If you got a letter saying your land is “certified delinquent,” this is what it means.

What the county can do next

Ohio gives counties three ways to collect. Which one your county uses changes how much time you have.

1. A foreclosure in court. The county prosecutor files the case for the treasurer. The law allows this as soon as 60 days after the delinquent list goes to the treasurer, though many counties wait longer. Ohio Legal Help says these cases take from six months to more than a year. They end in a sheriff’s sale.
2. A faster hearing at the Board of Revision. This route is for unoccupied land, which includes most vacant lots. There may be no auction at all. The land can be transferred straight to the county land bank, and your window to pay can close 28 days after the decision. If your land is vacant and you get a notice that mentions the Board of Revision, treat it as urgent.
3. A tax lien certificate sale. Some counties sell the debt to a private investor. Cuyahoga, Franklin and Lake counties do this. You then owe the investor, not the county. The investor can start a foreclosure one year after buying the certificate. Once that starts, paying it off costs more. The law adds interest at 18 percent a year, plus attorney fees and court costs.

Your options

1. Pay it and keep the land. Call the treasurer and ask for a payoff amount good through a specific date. If a court case has started, ask for the court costs too.
2. Ask for a payment plan. Ohio calls it a delinquent tax contract. It can run up to five years, and no new penalty or interest is added while you keep it current. For vacant land the treasurer may offer one but doesn’t have to. Miss a payment and the plan is void. It’s not available once a tax certificate has been sold.
3. Sell the land and pay the taxes from the sale. The title company or closing attorney gets a payoff from the county and pays it at closing. You don’t bring cash to the table.
4. Do nothing. The county or an investor forecloses, and the land is sold or goes to the land bank. You usually lose whatever the land was worth above the taxes.

How long you have to sell

In a regular court foreclosure, you can pay everything owed and stop the process any time before the court files its entry confirming the sheriff’s sale. That entry usually comes a few weeks after the auction. You still own the land until then, so you can still sell it. The sale pays off the taxes and costs at closing, and the county dismisses the case. After the sale is confirmed, it’s over. There’s no right to buy the land back.

Don’t plan on using all of that time. A few things get harder the longer you wait.

• Court costs are added to what you owe once a case is filed.
• Once a foreclosure is filed, the county can require that the property meets local codes before it accepts a payoff.
• In a Board of Revision case headed to a land bank, the deadline can be 28 days after the decision, with no sale to wait for.
• A closing takes time. The title company needs a few weeks to check the title. If a case has been filed, it also needs payoff figures from the treasurer and from the clerk of courts.

What happens at the sheriff’s sale

The land is offered at auction on two dates, a few weeks apart. The opening bid is the lower of two numbers. One is the county’s value for the land plus costs. The other is the taxes owed plus costs.

If nobody bids at either sale, the land is forfeited to the state or handed to a land bank or local government.

If the land sells for more than what you owed, the extra money belongs to you. The clerk of courts holds it and you have to claim it. There are deadlines, so call the clerk right after the sale.

Keeping the land is an option too

If you want the land, a payment plan is often the cheapest way to keep it. Call the treasurer early. It’s much easier to get a plan before a court case is filed than after. While you’re on the phone, make sure the county has your current mailing address. Many people lose land because the notices went to an old address.

An example with numbers

This one is made up, but the numbers are typical of what we see on small rural lots.

Say you own five acres in southern Ohio, in a county like Gallia or Scioto. The taxes are about $400 a year and you’ve missed three years. That’s $1,200 in taxes. The 10 percent penalties add about $120, and interest adds a bit more. Call it $1,400 owed, plus court costs if the county has already filed a case.

If you sell the lot for $9,000, the title company sends the county its $1,400 at closing. You get the rest, and the tax problem is gone. If you do nothing and the lot goes to a sheriff’s sale, the bidding can open at just the taxes and costs.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Dates, programs and procedures vary by county, and Ohio’s tax foreclosure laws change. Confirm the status of your parcel with your county treasurer or prosecutor, or talk to an Ohio attorney.