Each step below is drawn from Ohio statute, not general advice. The exact sale dates, platform, and deposit amounts are set county by county, so confirm the specifics on your county page before you register.
New here? Most beginners start with a certificate (the lien path). The deed steps below apply once you hold a certificate long enough to force a sale, or you bid directly at a tax deed auction. Not sure which is for you? Start with tax lien vs tax deed.
Learn the timeline and lien priority
Ohio bills real property taxes in two installments. The full year is due on or before December 31, or a taxpayer may pay half by December 31 and the balance by the following June 20. When the county auditor's delivery of the tax duplicate is delayed, those dates can move to January 31 and July 20. Missing either deadline adds a 10 percent penalty on the unpaid balance, and delinquent taxes then carry interest at the annual rate set under R.C. 5703.47, which is the federal short-term rate rounded to the nearest whole percent plus 3 percent. A county with a land reutilization corporation may instead charge 12 percent per year or 1 percent per month. The state's tax lien attaches to every parcel on January 1 each year and continues until the tax is paid, which is what makes an Ohio tax claim senior collateral. Understand this before you commit any money.
Find the advertised delinquent list
Before the certificate sale, the County Treasurer advertises the delinquent parcels. Ohio fixes no statutory month. The treasurer selects parcels from the delinquent land list, advertises the auction in a county newspaper once a week for two consecutive weeks, and may then hold the sale at any time after the advertising is complete, on the date, time, and place named in the advertisement. Several counties may also combine their parcels into one regional sale held at a single location. Confirm the current date on the county treasurer page, and confirm whether the county sells by auction at all rather than by negotiated sale. Pull that list for your target county and shortlist the parcels worth researching.
Register, deposit, and bid the rate down
Register on the county’s certificate-sale platform and fund the required deposit. At the sale you bid the interest rate down: it opens at the statutory maximum of 18 percent and drops in 0.25 percent steps, and the lowest rate wins. A redeemed certificate pays at least a 6 percent floor. At a public auction the treasurer or a designee opens the bidding at 18 percent per year simple interest and takes lower bids in even quarter-percent steps all the way to 0 percent, awarding the certificate to the lowest rate bid. Ties are decided by the treasurer, and that decision is not appealable. A certificate bid at 0 percent is the one case where the 6 percent minimum return does not apply: its redemption price is only the certificate purchase price plus the treasurer's fee, so the investor is buying the foreclosure right rather than a yield. Ohio also allows a second route entirely. Under R.C. 5721.33 a treasurer may negotiate a sale or transfer of a block of certificates to an eligible purchaser, setting the rate, any premium or discount, and the foreclosure timetable by agreement instead of by auction, so a county that uses the negotiated route holds no public certificate auction at all. Certificates are never sold to the owner of the parcel, and no bidder may contact the owner to demand payment during the first month after purchase.
Collect interest or wait out redemption
Interest under the tax certificate sections is simple, never compounded. The monthly charge is one twelfth of the annual bid rate on the principal, accruing on the first day of the month following the start of the interest period and on the first day of each month after that. For a certificate bought at public auction the redemption price is the purchase price plus the greater of the interest accrued at the bid rate or a flat 6 percent of the purchase price, and that 6 percent applies even when the parcel is redeemed before the first monthly accrual date. A certificate bid at 0 percent has no floor, and a certificate bought in a negotiated sale has no 6 percent floor either. Interest stops accruing at the bid rate on the day the holder files for foreclosure and submits the required payment, or the day the parcel is redeemed. Once the holder pays to start foreclosure, the rate on the certificate purchase price becomes 18 percent per year until the parcel is redeemed or the sale proceeds are paid out. Ohio has no post-sale redemption window. On the certificate track the owner or any other person entitled to redeem may pay the county treasurer at any time before the certificate holder pays to start foreclosure, and after that up until the entry of confirmation of sale, the expiration of the 28-day alternative redemption period, or the decree that conveys title to the certificate holder. On the direct foreclosure track, delinquent land may be redeemed before proceedings begin, and afterwards up to the entry of confirmation of sale or the end of the alternative redemption period. The alternative redemption period is 28 days after an adjudication of foreclosure is journalized, and when it expires the right and equity of redemption terminate without any further order. Once title vests, a decree conveying the parcel to a certificate holder is a permanent bar to redemption. To redeem, the owner pays The sum of the certificate redemption prices of every tax certificate sold on the parcel. For an auction certificate each redemption price is the certificate purchase price plus the greater of simple interest at the bid rate or 6 percent of the purchase price, except that a certificate bid at 0 percent redeems at the purchase price plus the treasurer's fee. A negotiated certificate redeems at the purchase price plus interest actually accrued at the certificate rate plus any treasurer and recording fees, with no 6 percent floor. Once the holder has paid to initiate foreclosure, add 18 percent per year on the certificate purchase price from the day that payment was made, the prosecuting attorney's fee plus 18 percent on it, reasonable private attorney fees under R.C. 5721.371, and any other costs and fees allocated to the parcel. On the direct foreclosure track the redemption amount is the taxes, assessments, penalties, interest, and charges due and unpaid plus the costs of the action. If they redeem, that payoff is your return; if they never do, the certificate becomes your path to the property.
Apply for a tax deed
Ohio has three routes to a sale. A tax certificate holder may file a request for foreclosure, or a private attorney may file a notice of intent to foreclose, at any time after one year from the date the certificate was sold and no later than the end of the certificate period. Where no certificate has been sold, the county treasurer sues to enforce the lien once taxes stay unpaid 60 days after the delinquent land duplicate reaches the treasurer, and the county prosecuting attorney forecloses the state's lien on the auditor's certification, with the in rem route available after the end of the second year from the date the delinquency was first certified. The treasurer may not enforce the lien for taxes that are already covered by an outstanding tax certificate. The statutory floor depends on the route. In a prosecutor's foreclosure the court orders the parcel sold without appraisal for not less than the lesser of the auditor's fair market value plus the costs of the proceeding, or the total finding plus costs. In a treasurer's foreclosure the floor is the total finding, or the auditor's fair market value plus costs, unless the treasurer applies for an appraisal, in which case the parcel must bring at least two thirds of the appraised value. In a certificate holder's foreclosure the parcel is sold without appraisal for not less than the amount of the court's finding, which covers the certificate redemption prices, 18 percent interest, unpaid taxes, and fees and costs. If the auditor's true value is below the certificate redemption price, the court may instead decree fee simple title straight to the certificate holder with no auction at all.
Bid at the tax deed auction
The County Sheriff, or a private selling officer authorized by the court, selling on the statewide official public sheriff sale web site or at a physical location in the county. Parcels that reach the forfeited land list are sold by the County Auditor. sells the property at public auction to the highest bidder. For residential property the deposit is fixed by statute: $2,000 if the appraised value is $10,000 or less, $5,000 if it is above $10,000 and up to $200,000, and $10,000 if it is above $200,000. A judgment creditor buying at its own sale posts no deposit. For commercial property the deposit follows whatever requirements the sale sets. Deposit timing is set by the court or the officer conducting the sale and printed in the sale advertisement, and an online sale may take the deposit by card or other financial transaction device. The officer conducting the sale requires the buyer to pay the balance within 30 days of confirmation of the sale. The court confirms within 30 days of the return of the writ unless it stays confirmation, and the deed is recorded within 14 days after confirmation and payment.
Or buy over the counter
You do not have to wait for an auction. Ohio has no over-the-counter tax certificate channel. A certificate offered at auction but not sold is not shelved for later walk-in purchase: the treasurer may instead move it into a negotiated sale under R.C. 5721.33, or strike the parcel from the certificate list, after which the lien is foreclosed through the ordinary routes. Separately, a winning bidder who fails to pay the balance within five business days forfeits the deposit, and the treasurer keeps that certificate and may re-offer it at a later auction. The only standing purchase right belongs to the existing certificate holder, who gets an exclusive 30-day window after each settlement to buy a subsequent certificate on the same parcel at a fixed 18 percent. The deed-side equivalent is the forfeited land list. A parcel offered at two foreclosure sales without a qualifying bid is forfeited to the state or to a subdivision, school district, or land bank, and the county auditor keeps a list of forfeited lands and offers them for sale at least annually, or more often if the auditor decides more frequent sales are needed. At a forfeited land sale the auditor offers each tract at public auction to the highest bidder for an amount sufficient to pay the lesser of the auditor's fair market value plus costs or the total finding plus costs. If no bid reaches that figure, the auditor may re-offer the tract on the spot and sell it for the best price obtainable, which is the closest thing Ohio has to a discount inventory channel, and the same tract may be offered more than once at the same sale. The sale is advertised once a week for two consecutive weeks. The auditor's deed extinguishes previous title and most liens, and costs $45 plus the recording fee, though a federal tax lien lets the United States redeem within 120 days after the sale. Before the sale the director of natural resources may claim a forfeited tract for conservation, and a county land reutilization corporation may have a forfeited parcel transferred to it for no consideration.
One more step: clear the title
Winning a tax deed does not hand you marketable title. Before you can resell to a normal buyer or insure the parcel, you will usually need a quiet title action, which takes months and costs money. Fold that cost into your maximum bid and read what you actually own after a tax deed before you bid. A tax deed also does not wipe out everything: select governmental and municipal liens can survive, and a federal tax lien carries a 120-day IRS redemption right, so check what survives a tax deed too.
New to this? Start with tax lien vs tax deed and the full Ohio walkthrough, then value a parcel with the due diligence guide.
Steps verified Aug 6, 2026 against Ohio statutes.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.