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Tax Sale Atlas

Wood County, OH tax sales

Wood County, Ohio sells both tax lien certificates and tax deeds. The County Treasurer runs the certificate sale (18% maximum, bid down), and the County Sheriff holds the tax deed sale on parcels whose certificates go unredeemed, from the county seat in Bowling Green, under R.C. Chapter 5721.

New to tax sales? Read how Ohio tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.

Next sale
No tax lien certificate sale date is published.
Format
In person
Registration
Under Ohio Rev.
County office
(419) 354-9130
Every displayed fact carries a source badge. Verified Aug 7, 2026 against official county and state pages.How we verify
On this page

How Wood County sells delinquent taxes

Tax certificate sale (lien)

Run by
Wood County Treasurer
Frequency
annual
Typical timing
No tax lien certificate sale date is published.
When it runs
No tax lien certificate sale date is published. The Treasurer's site lists real estate and manufactured home due dates only, and its tax bill notice states that if taxes are not paid within one year from the date they are due, the property is subject to foreclosure for tax delinquency.
Registration and deposit

Bidders file a registration form with the county treasurer before the auction starts and pay a $500 cash registration fee, refunded at the end of bidding unless the bidder wins, in which case it may be applied to the deposit. The treasurer may also require a letter from a financial institution confirming available funds. The winning bidder pays at least 10 percent of the certificate purchase price in cash by the close of business on the sale day and the balance plus the treasurer's fee within five business days.

Sale format and venue
Ohio law permits a county treasurer to sell tax lien certificates under Ohio Rev. Code 5721.32 and 5721.33, but Wood County publishes no certificate sale page, no certificate list, and no bidder registration. A review of the Treasurer's site and a search of the county website returned no certificate offering. Delinquent parcels in this county move instead to the Sheriff's tax foreclosure sale. Investors who want to confirm whether any negotiated certificate sale exists should call the Treasurer at (419) 354-9130.
Source: Wood County Treasurer, Your Tax Bill Explained (one year delinquency and foreclosure notice)· Verified Aug 7, 2026

Tax deed sale

In person
Run by
Wood County Sheriff's Office, Civil Division
Frequency
annual
Registration
Under Ohio Rev.
Sale list
Sheriff Sale Active Listings (PDF)
When it runs
Dates are set case by case as the court orders each foreclosure, and the Sheriff posts them on a rolling active list. The Sheriff Sales page states: "All Delinquent Tax Sales will still be held in person at the Wood County Courthouse on the listed date at 10:00 AM." The active listing repeats that "All sales begin at 10:00am" and shows the online bank foreclosure sales falling on Thursdays.
Registration and deposit

Under Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(J) every bidder must complete and have notarized a Tax Delinquency Affidavit, posted on the Sheriff Sales page in separate individual and organization versions, before taking part in the tax foreclosure sale. The affidavit attests the buyer owns no Ohio property with unpaid delinquent taxes. Because tax sale parcels are not appraised, the deposit is 10 percent of the starting bid and never less than $1,000, given to the Sheriff's deputy once that day's sales are finished, by personal check or certified check. The winning bidder also completes a Purchaser Information Form under Ohio Rev. Code 2329.271, and the balance is due within 30 days of the filing of the confirmation entry.

Sale format and venue
Two sale channels run out of the same office and are easy to confuse. Mortgage and bank foreclosure sales go online through the Realauction Official Public Sheriff's Sale Website for Wood County, while delinquent tax sales and probate sales still sell on location at One Courthouse Square, Bowling Green. The active listing PDF marks the online lots with an asterisk, so a listed parcel without an asterisk is an in person courthouse sale. A property cannot sell for less than two thirds of the appraised amount unless the newspaper advertisement in The Sentinel-Tribune says otherwise, and under House Bill 390 an unsold parcel gets a second sale date with no minimum bid, where the buyer covers costs, allowances and taxes the proceeds do not cover. Sales are buyer beware, parcels are not open for inspection, and a federal tax lien can survive the sale, so check the Wood County Recorder first. Questions go to Deputy Phyllis Haas at (419) 354-9373. In person at the Wood County Courthouse, One Courthouse Square, Bowling Green
Source: Wood County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Sales· Verified Aug 7, 2026

Wood County tax sale list and auction calendar

For Wood County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid.

  1. Get the advertised list

    Use Sheriff Sale Active Listings (PDF) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.

  2. Register to bid

    Under Ohio Rev. Full requirements are in the sale card above.

  3. Sale day

    No tax lien certificate sale date is published. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.

  4. Confirm with the office

    If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Wood County Sheriff's Office, Civil Division as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.

Before you bid in Wood County

  1. Start with the live sale list

    Pull the current advertised parcels from Sheriff Sale Active Listings (PDF). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.

  2. Confirm registration and deposit

    Under Ohio Rev. Code 5721.19(J) every bidder must complete and have notarized a Tax Delinquency Affidavit, posted on the Sheriff Sales page in separate individual and organization versions, before taking part in the tax foreclosure sale. The affidavit attests the buyer owns no Ohio property with unpaid delinquent taxes. Because tax sale parcels are not appraised, the deposit is 10 percent of the starting bid and never less than $1,000, given to the Sheriff's deputy once that day's sales are finished, by personal check or certified check. The winning bidder also completes a Purchaser Information Form under Ohio Rev. Code 2329.271, and the balance is due within 30 days of the filing of the confirmation entry.

  3. Check the state rules that change the bid

    Read the Ohio due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth.

  4. Set a walk-away number

    Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.

Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases

Ohio has no over-the-counter tax certificate channel. The equivalent inventory is the county auditor's forfeited land list, made up of parcels that drew no qualifying bid at two foreclosure sales. The auditor offers that list at public auction at least annually, and a tract that still receives no bid meeting the statutory minimum may then be sold for the best price obtainable.

New to this path? Read how over-the-counter certificates work.

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County offices

Tax Collector (runs the certificate sale)

Wood County Treasurer

(419) 354-9130

1 Courthouse Square, Bowling Green, OH 43402

Official website

County notes

  • Wood County Sheriff's Office, Civil Division, conducts the tax foreclosure sales: 1960 East Gypsy Lane Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402, administrative line (419) 354-9137, sheriff sale contact Deputy Phyllis Haas (419) 354-9373, page at https://woodcountysheriff.com/sheriff-sales/.
  • The Wood County Auditor's Real Estate menu carries a 2026 Forfeited Land Sale entry marked as pending, with no list or date linked yet. Forfeited land sales run under Ohio Rev. Code Chapter 5723 and are separate from the Sheriff's tax foreclosure sale. Auditor's office: One Courthouse Square, 2nd Floor, PO Box 368, Bowling Green, OH 43402, (419) 354-9150.
  • The Realauction site at wood.sheriffsaleauction.ohio.gov is branded RealForeclose for the Wood County Sheriff and sits behind a login. Per the Sheriff, it carries the online bank foreclosure sales, not the in person delinquent tax sales, so an investor tracking tax sales there will see nothing.
  • The active list published August 3, 2026 showed six upcoming sales, every one flagged as an online bank foreclosure, so no in person delinquent tax sale was on the calendar as of that date.
  • The Treasurer's tax bill notice states that taxes unpaid one year after the due date make the property subject to foreclosure for tax delinquency, which is the entry point to the Sheriff's tax sale.
  • Sale advertisements run in The Sentinel-Tribune, and the Sheriff's archived listings are posted at https://woodcountysheriff.com/pdf/archived.pdf.

Ohio rules

Max interest rate
18% per year, bid down in 0.25% steps
Minimum return
6% floor at redemption
Redemption
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.
Deed deposit
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.
Surplus proceeds
Sale proceeds pay costs first, then the certificate holder or the taxing districts, and any residue goes to the clerk of the court within 45 days after confirmation. The clerk notifies the former owner. Residue left unclaimed 90 days after that final notice is paid into the county treasury and held for the owner, who may demand it within three years. After three years it is forfeited to the county's delinquent tax and assessment collection fund, or to the county land reutilization corporation fund where one exists.
Governing statute
R.C. Chapter 5721

A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.

See the full Ohiorules and every county →

Frequently asked questions

Does Wood County, Ohio sell tax liens or tax deeds?

Wood County follows Ohio's hybrid system. The County Treasurer sells tax lien certificates, and the County Sheriff handles the tax deed sale on parcels whose certificates go unredeemed.

When is the Wood County tax certificate sale?

No tax lien certificate sale date is published. The Treasurer's site lists real estate and manufactured home due dates only, and its tax bill notice states that if taxes are not paid within one year from the date they are due, the property is subject to foreclosure for tax delinquency. Always confirm the exact date with the County Treasurer before the sale.

How often does Wood County hold tax deed sales?

Wood County holds its tax deed sale once a year. Each sale is scheduled and advertised in advance, so check the county's tax deed calendar for the next posted date.

I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?

Often yes, by paying the overdue taxes, interest, and costs before the deadline. Ohio's redemption rule: 1 year after the certificate sale before the holder can request foreclosure; redemption then stays open until confirmation of sale. Call the Wood County Sheriff's Office, Civil Division as early as possible for your exact payoff and options; deadlines are strict. Free help: lawhelp.org lists legal aid programs, and consumerfinance.gov lists HUD-approved housing counselors.

Where can I find the Wood County tax sale list?

Wood County posts its tax sale list at woodcountysheriff.com. Lists go up ahead of each sale and keep changing until the sale date, so confirm every parcel against the county's legal advertisement before you bid.

Verified Aug 7, 2026 against official county and state sources.

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.

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