Delinquent Property Taxes in Ohio: The Deadline Is a Line on a Court Docket, Not a Date
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Ohio · Last updated October 21, 2026
Ohio collects an unpaid property tax bill through a lawsuit, so the deadline that decides whether a family keeps the house is a line on a court docket rather than a date on a calendar. Delinquent property taxes are property taxes an owner did not pay by the date the state fixed, after which the county adds a penalty and interest and can force a sale of the property to collect them. The county treasurer may sue to enforce the lien once any part of the bill is unpaid sixty days after the delinquent land duplicate is delivered (Ohio Rev. Code 323.25), and the prosecuting attorney may file in rem after the end of the second year from the first certification (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.18). Until the filing of an entry of confirmation of sale, any person entitled to redeem may tender what the court finds due, taxes, penalties, interest, charges and the costs of the case, and must also demonstrate the property complies with applicable zoning, land use, building, health and safety codes (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25). On abandoned land that window can be cut to twenty-eight days after the adjudication of foreclosure is journalized (Ohio Rev. Code 323.65, 323.78). Half the bill falls due by December 31 and the rest by June 20 (Ohio Rev. Code 323.12), a ten per cent penalty attaches to a missed half, and interest runs at the rate certified each October 15, 7.0 per cent for 2026 (Ohio Rev. Code 323.121, 5703.47). Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
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Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
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When can an Ohio county force a sale of my house over unpaid property taxes?
Only through a court. The county treasurer may enforce the lien by civil action when any part of the taxes is unpaid sixty days after the delinquent land duplicate is delivered (Ohio Rev. Code 323.25). An in rem complaint may be filed after the end of the second year from the first certification (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.18).
How long is the redemption period in Ohio?
It has no fixed length. After a foreclosure is instituted, redemption runs until the filing of an entry of confirmation of sale (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25). Where the county treasurer invokes the alternative redemption period on abandoned land, the right ends twenty-eight days after the adjudication of foreclosure is journalized (Ohio Rev. Code 323.65).
How much does it cost to redeem a property in Ohio?
The taxes, assessments, penalties, interest and charges then due and unpaid, plus the costs of the proceeding, in an amount the court determines (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25). Inside that figure sit a ten per cent penalty on a missed half, halved to five per cent if paid within ten days, and annual interest (Ohio Rev. Code 323.121).
When do Ohio property taxes become delinquent each year?
In halves. The full amount is payable on or before December 31, or half by then together with any delinquent balance, and the remaining half on or before the following June 20 (Ohio Rev. Code 323.12). Both dates may move to January 31 and July 20 when delivery of the tax duplicate is delayed (Ohio Rev. Code 323.17).
Ohio delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Ohio keeps three different endings for the same unpaid bill, and which one a parcel meets is the county's choice rather than the owner's. Delinquent property taxes here are taxes an owner did not pay by the statutory date, after which the county charges a penalty and interest and can go to court to force a sale. The default is a judicial foreclosure brought by the county treasurer or the county prosecuting attorney (Ohio Rev. Code 323.25, 5721.18). In counties whose treasurer selects parcels for it, the lien is instead sold as a tax certificate (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.31). On abandoned land a treasurer may invoke a twenty-eight day alternative redemption period and the parcel can pass by deed to a land bank with no sale at all (Ohio Rev. Code 323.78).
A Lima rental where the repairs, not the money, run out the clock
An owner of a small rental on the north side of Lima misses both halves of the 2024 bill and roughly 4,800 dollars sits unpaid, so the Allen County Treasurer brings a civil action to enforce the lien (Ohio Rev. Code 323.25). The owner raises the cash by the summer and asks to redeem. Because a foreclosure has been instituted, the tender must be the amount the court determines and the owner must also demonstrate the property complies with applicable zoning, land use, building, health and safety codes (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25). A condemned rear porch is on the city's violation list. The money is ready, the porch is not, and the entry of confirmation of sale is what ends the right. Whether a given tender and compliance showing is accepted is for the court.
Relevant Laws
Ohio Rev. Code 323.12 (when each half of the bill is due)
Requires each person charged with taxes to pay the county treasurer the full amount on or before the thirty-first day of December, or to pay one half of the current taxes together with the full amount of any delinquent taxes before that date and the remaining half on or before the twentieth day of June next ensuing, and treats a United States postal service postmark on or before the last day for payment as payment on time.
Ohio Rev. Code 323.17 (when those two dates can move)
Provides that where delivery of the tax duplicate has been delayed, the times for payment fixed by section 323.12 may be extended to the thirty-first day of January and the twentieth day of July, and that in an emergency, or an unavoidable delay in closing a collection period, the tax commissioner may extend the time for payment by journal entry on application of the county auditor and treasurer.
Ohio Rev. Code 323.121 (the ten per cent penalty, the ten day halving, and the interest rate)
Charges a penalty of ten per cent against the unpaid balance of the half not paid by December 31 and a like penalty on the balance unpaid after June 20; waives and remits half of that penalty where the full amount due is paid within ten days; charges interest on all delinquent taxes at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47; and permits a county treasurer in a county with a land reutilization corporation to order interest at twelve per cent per annum or one per cent per month instead. No penalty or interest accrues on taxes covered by a valid delinquent tax contract while it remains in effect.
Ohio Rev. Code 5703.47 (how the annual interest rate is set)
Directs the tax commissioner, on the fifteenth day of October each year, to determine the federal short-term rate for July, and makes that rate rounded to the nearest whole per cent plus three per cent the interest rate per annum for interest accruing during the following calendar year, with notice of the rate to be given to every county auditor within ten days.
Ohio Department of Taxation: Annual Certified Interest Rates
The department's own table of the rates certified under section 5703.47. It lists the annual rate for most taxes at 7.0 per cent, with a 0.58 per cent monthly accrual, for calendar year 2026, and the same figures for 2027, against 8.0 per cent for 2025 and 2024. Because the rate is recertified every October 15, the figure used to compute interest on a delinquency depends on the year the interest accrues.
Ohio Rev. Code 323.25 (the county treasurer's foreclosure, and redemption during it)
Requires the county treasurer, when taxes are unpaid sixty days after delivery of the delinquent land duplicate, to enforce the lien by civil action in the treasurer's official capacity for sale of the premises in the same way mortgage liens are enforced, or for transfer to an electing subdivision, in the common pleas court, a municipal court with jurisdiction, or the county board of revision. Division (B) lets any person entitled to redeem do so before the applicable redemption period expires by tendering to the treasurer the amount the court or board determines and demonstrating compliance with applicable zoning, land use, building, health and safety codes.
Ohio Rev. Code 323.31 (the delinquent tax contract)
Gives an owner of agricultural real property, an owner-occupant of residential real property or a manufactured or mobile home without an outstanding tax lien certificate or judgment of foreclosure, and an occupying land contract vendee, at least one opportunity to pay delinquent or unpaid current taxes by written contract with the county treasurer, with later opportunities at the treasurer's sole discretion. The contract may be entered any time before an adjudication of foreclosure and runs up to five years for an owner-occupied residence, and not less than two years if the owner requests it.
Ohio Rev. Code 323.65 (the twenty-eight day alternative redemption period)
Defines the alternative redemption period, in any action to foreclose the state's lien under section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79 or section 5721.18, as twenty-eight days after an adjudication of foreclosure of the parcel is journalized by a court or county board of revision, provides that on its expiration the right and equity of redemption of any owner or party terminates without further order, and counts the period from the day immediately following journalization through and including the twenty-eighth day after it.
Ohio Rev. Code 323.78 (invoking it, and the transfer with no sale)
Lets a county treasurer elect to invoke the alternative redemption period in a foreclosure of abandoned land, and where a subdivision, school district, community development organization or county land reutilization corporation has requested title, requires the court or board of revision to terminate redemption and order the parcel transferred by deed without appraisal and without a sale, regardless of whether the debt exceeds fair market value. As amended effective April 3, 2025, division (D) requires that transferee to sell the property and to deliver any excess over the taxes, costs and charges to the county treasurer within forty-five days, to be treated as surplus funds.
Ohio Rev. Code 5721.18 (the prosecuting attorney's foreclosure, and notice in it)
Requires the county prosecuting attorney, on delivery of a delinquent land tax certificate or master list, to institute foreclosure in the name of the county treasurer to foreclose the lien of the state. Division (B) permits an in rem complaint only after the end of the second year from the date the delinquency was first certified by the auditor, and requires the clerk to publish the notice of foreclosure and to mail a copy by certified mail to each last known owner, lienholder and interested person named in the complaint within thirty days of filing.
Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19 (the finding, the minimum price, and the second sale)
Requires a finding of the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, interest and costs due and unpaid, and permits the parcel to be ordered sold without appraisal for not less than either the county auditor's fair market value plus costs or the total amount of the finding plus costs, with the former owner and connected parties barred from buying below the finding amount. Each parcel is advertised once a week for three consecutive weeks, the advertisement naming the date of a second sale to be held two to six weeks later if no bid is accepted. Amended effective April 9, 2025.
Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25 (redemption, and the compliance condition)
Permits delinquent land to be redeemed before foreclosure proceedings are instituted by tendering to the county treasurer enough to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties, interest and charges then due and unpaid and the costs incurred, and after a foreclosure is instituted but before the filing of an entry of confirmation of sale, or before the expiration of the alternative redemption period under section 323.78, on the same tender plus a demonstration that the property is in compliance with all applicable zoning regulations, land use restrictions, and building, health, and safety codes. It also allows a delinquent tax contract after filing, paid over not more than five years, which does not stop the case going to judgment.
Ohio Rev. Code 5721.20 (surplus proceeds, and the three year claim)
Requires the officer who makes the sale to deliver any balance above the writ, interest and costs to the clerk of the court within forty-five days after confirmation of sale, and the clerk to notify the owner of the residue consistent with section 2329.44. A residue unclaimed within ninety days of the final notice is paid into the county treasury and charged in the name of the supposed owner, who may demand it within three years, after which it is forfeited to the county delinquent tax and assessment collection fund or a land reutilization corporation fund. Amended effective April 3, 2025.
Ohio Rev. Code 5721.31 and 5721.32 (selecting parcels, and the bid down auction)
Section 5721.31 lets the county treasurer select parcels from the delinquent land list for a tax certificate sale, bars selection of a parcel covered by a valid delinquent tax contract or a bankruptcy estate, and requires certified mail notice to the owner before the sale, at least thirty days ahead of a negotiated one. Section 5721.32 opens public auction bidding at eighteen per cent per year simple interest, accepts lower bids in even increments of one quarter of one per cent down to zero per cent, awards the certificate to the lowest bid, allows a certificate period of three to six years, and requires the treasurer to tell the owner the certificate was sold and describe the redemption options.
Ohio Rev. Code 5721.30 (what the redeemer owes on a certificate)
Defines the certificate purchase price as the delinquent taxes charged at the time of sale plus the treasurer's fee, and the certificate redemption price on an auction sale as that purchase price plus the greater of simple interest at the rate bid or six per cent of the purchase price, with the price reduced to purchase price plus fee where the bid rate is zero. On a negotiated sale the redemption price is the purchase price plus interest at the rate the treasurer fixed, which may not exceed eighteen per cent per year, plus the treasurer's fee and recording fees.
Ohio Rev. Code 5721.38 (redeeming a certificate parcel, and the payment plan)
Lets the owner of record or any other person entitled to redeem pay the county treasurer the total certificate redemption prices of all certificates on the parcel at any time before the holder pays to start foreclosure, and afterwards adds eighteen per cent per year on the purchase price, the prosecuting attorney's fee with the same interest, reasonable private attorney's fees under section 5721.371 and other costs, with redemption still open until confirmation of sale, expiry of the alternative redemption period, or a decree conveying title. It also provides for a redemption payment plan with the treasurer within one year of the sale.
Ohio Rev. Code 5723.01 and 5723.03 (forfeiture, and the last window after it)
Section 5723.01 forfeits a tract advertised and offered for sale on two separate occasions, not less than two weeks apart, and not sold for want of bidders, to the state or, on a petition filed within ten days of the court's notice, to a political subdivision, school district or county land reutilization corporation. Section 5723.03 provides that a former owner who pays into the county treasury all the taxes, assessments, penalties, interest and costs standing charged against the forfeited property, at any time before the state has disposed of it, has the state's claim relinquished and the property re-entered on the auditor's tax list.
Franklin County Treasurer: tax lien sale
A county treasurer page showing how the certificate statutes are run in one county: all eligible tax lien certificates are bundled and sold as a single portfolio, Ohio law does not provide for sale of individual certificates or over the counter liens, parcels already set for sheriff sale or covered by a tax contract are ineligible, and the amounts due include a county administrative fee that rises from 125 dollars on initial notification to 250 dollars when certified mail is initiated and then 350 dollars plus 6 per cent interest on the sale date. The fee figures are that county's, not a statewide amount.
Cuyahoga County Treasurer: tax lien certificate sales
A second county treasurer page, stating that taxes unpaid after the second half collection are certified delinquent and advertised, that certificates are offered in bulk through a negotiated sale and not individually, that payments on parcels whose liens are being or have been sold must be made in certified funds, that a redemption payment plan is available under section 5721.38, and that the owner may redeem any time before confirmation of the foreclosure sale.
Regional Variances
Ohio delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Judicial foreclosure by default. The county treasurer enforces the lien by civil action in the treasurer's own official capacity, or the county prosecuting attorney forecloses in the treasurer's name, in the common pleas court, a municipal court with jurisdiction or the county board of revision (Ohio Rev. Code 323.25, 5721.18). The court enters a finding and may order the parcel sold without appraisal (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19). Two further routes exist: a tax certificate sale that transfers the state's superior lien to a holder while the owner keeps title (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.31, 5721.32), and, on abandoned land, a transfer by deed with no sale (Ohio Rev. Code 323.78).
Delinquency dates
The full amount is payable on or before December 31, or one half by then together with the full amount of any delinquent taxes and the remaining half on or before the following June 20 (Ohio Rev. Code 323.12). Where delivery of the tax duplicate is delayed those dates may be extended to January 31 and July 20, and the tax commissioner may extend a collection period further by journal entry (Ohio Rev. Code 323.17), so the operative date is the one the county treasurer prints on the bill.
Penalty and interest before any sale
A ten per cent penalty on the unpaid balance of a missed half, which the treasurer waives and the auditor remits by half, to five per cent, if the full amount due is paid within ten days (Ohio Rev. Code 323.121). Interest then runs on all delinquent taxes at the rate per annum certified under Ohio Rev. Code 5703.47, being the July federal short-term rate rounded to the nearest whole per cent plus three per cent, which the Department of Taxation certifies at 7.0 per cent for 2026. A county treasurer in a county with a land reutilization corporation may order twelve per cent per annum or one per cent per month instead.
Time before sale
Shortest on the treasurer's own action: any part unpaid sixty days after the delinquent land duplicate is delivered, and that duplicate is certified and delivered within thirty days after the August settlement (Ohio Rev. Code 323.25, 5721.011). The auditor makes the delinquent land tax certificate one year after certification of the delinquent land list (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.13), and an in rem complaint may be filed only after the end of the second year from the first certification (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.18). A certificate holder may not request foreclosure until one year after the certificate was sold (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.37).
Redemption period and clock
No fixed length, and the trigger is a court event. After a foreclosure is instituted, redemption runs until the filing of an entry of confirmation of sale (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25). Where the treasurer invokes the alternative redemption period, it instead ends twenty-eight days after the adjudication of foreclosure is journalized, counted from the day after journalization, and redemption then terminates without further order (Ohio Rev. Code 323.65, 323.78). On a certificate parcel it ends at the earlier of confirmation, that twenty-eight day expiry, or a decree conveying title to the holder (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.38). After forfeiture for want of bidders a former owner may still redeem until the state disposes of the property (Ohio Rev. Code 5723.03).
Redeemer's charge
On the default route it is not a percentage of a bid and not a redemption penalty: it is the taxes, assessments, penalties, interest and charges then due and unpaid plus the costs of the proceeding, in an amount the court determines (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25). The percentage parts are the ten per cent penalty, five per cent within ten days, and the annually certified interest rate (Ohio Rev. Code 323.121). On a certificate the charge is a capped rate bid down: bidding opens at eighteen per cent per year simple interest and falls in quarter point steps to zero (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.32), and the redeemer pays the purchase price plus the greater of that bid interest or six per cent of the purchase price (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.30). Once the holder pays to start foreclosure the rate becomes eighteen per cent per year (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.38).
Other redemption costs
The costs of the proceeding as determined by the court, plus the compliance demonstration itself, since redemption after filing requires showing the property complies with all applicable zoning regulations, land use restrictions, and building, health, and safety codes (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25, 323.25). On a certificate parcel add the prosecuting attorney's fee with eighteen per cent interest, reasonable private attorney's fees, presumed reasonable at or below 2,500 dollars and above that needing a court order (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.371), and other allocable costs (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.38). County administrative fees are county-set: the Franklin County Treasurer publishes 125, then 250, then 350 dollars plus 6 per cent on the sale date.
Notice to the owner
The auditor publishes the delinquent tax list twice within sixty days of the duplicate's delivery, with display notices once a week for two consecutive weeks warning that interest accrues on accounts unpaid after November 30 unless a written delinquent tax contract is signed (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.03). In an in rem case the clerk mails the statutory notice by certified mail to each named owner, lienholder and interested person within thirty days of filing and publishes the notice of foreclosure (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.18). The sale is advertised once a week for three consecutive weeks, naming the second sale date (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19). Before a certificate sale the treasurer sends certified mail notice, thirty days ahead of a negotiated one (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.31), and must notify the owner after it is sold (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.32).
Where to redeem
The county treasurer, on every route, including where a private investor holds the certificate: payment is made to the treasurer, who cancels the lien and pays the holder (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.25, 5721.38). Once a case is filed the amount is the sum the court or the board of revision determines to be sufficient, not a figure the treasurer sets alone (Ohio Rev. Code 323.25). Forfeited land is redeemed by paying into the treasury of the county where the property sits (Ohio Rev. Code 5723.03). Cuyahoga County's treasury requires certified funds on parcels whose liens are being or have been sold.
Surplus proceeds
Claimable, on clocks rewritten effective April 3, 2025. Any balance above the writ, interest and costs goes to the clerk of the court that issued the writ within forty-five days after confirmation of sale, and the clerk notifies the owner in the manner required by Ohio Rev. Code 2329.44. A residue unclaimed within ninety days of the final notice is paid into the county treasury in the name of the supposed owner, who may demand it within three years, after which it is forfeited to the county fund (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.20). A subdivision or land bank taking a parcel without sale must sell it and remit the excess within forty-five days (Ohio Rev. Code 323.78).
Payment plan
A written delinquent tax contract with the county treasurer, and for an owner-occupant it is a statutory opportunity rather than a favour: an owner who occupies the residence, or owns agricultural land, with no outstanding tax lien certificate or judgment of foreclosure, has at least one such opportunity, over up to five years and not less than two if requested (Ohio Rev. Code 323.31). While it is in effect no interest is charged and the second-half penalty is held off (Ohio Rev. Code 323.121), and a parcel under a valid contract may not be selected for a certificate sale (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.31). A certificate redemption payment plan is separate (Ohio Rev. Code 5721.38).
Frequently Asked Questions
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