Posted on 08/02/2026 12:27:48 PM PDT by Twotone
Investors from Omaha to Chicago last year bought tens of millions of dollars worth of delinquent property tax debts from Ohio county treasurers, setting new records in several counties.
This gives those institutional investors the right to collect on liens, plus up to 18% interest, from Ohioans who are buckling under the weight of post-pandemic leaps on their property tax bills.
State lawmakers in 1998 legalized the sale of delinquent tax debt, joining roughly half of U.S. states that do so.
Several of Ohio’s biggest counties are now selling record levels of certificates, according to data provided by their treasurers’ offices. Cuyahoga County in June sold off $18 million worth of debt, higher than any year on record. Franklin County last year sold $10 million, double the size of most years’ sales. In the Cincinnati area, both Hamilton and Warren counties sold off more debt in 2025 and 2026 than any year over the past decade. Lucas County is planning its first tax lien sale since 2008.
The system rewards companies as property owners accrue more debt. Buyers of the initial liens also give investors the right to purchase all “subs” – subsequent lien certificates that counties sell off when a property once again falls behind on its taxes. Those certificates require by law an 18% interest rate atop the principal. In rare cases, the investors can pursue foreclosure if debtors fail to pay.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
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I hope they sold it dollar for dollar.
They should let the debtors buy it for pennies on the dollar like the “investors” get to.
Even at18%, seems like a bit of a risk. I mean holders of credit cards, who presumably make payments, are charged 25%.
So China, disguised as ‘investors,’ is buying up Ohio?
I agree, they should at least give the individual owing taxes the right of first refusal before they sell it to a collector
The penalty for the one owing the taxes is already a damaged credit score, so there’s no real incentive for everyone to just not pay their taxes till they get a lower rate
Speculators used to buy life insurance policy payoffs from pepple with AIDS to give patients a source of income before they died. They bought becoming the benefiary of the policy fot a deep discount
“Franklin County last year sold $10 million”
About 25 homes. Less than 0,001%.
“They should let the debtors buy it for pennies on the dollar like the “investors” get to.”
Apparently you have no idea how the process works.
My brother-in-law lost his fully paid condo for not paying his taxes. He was too ashamed to tell anyone until he told us he had moved to an apartment. I wish we had known. We could have paid the taxes and set up some budgets and he could repay us when he sold the condo.
It was probably only a few years later that he was finally off of the harsh payments from his divorce, and then another year or two where he remarried and his new wife already had a home.
“I agree, they should at least give the individual owing taxes the right of first refusal before they sell it to a collector”
Do your homework!
All the owner has to do is pay off the taxes.
“$10 million....About 25 homes. Less than 0,001%.”
At say $2,000 in taxes per house, that $10 million involves about 5,000 houses, mainly owned by people of color.
The property tax is too damn high.
“My brother-in-law lost his fully paid condo for not paying his taxes. He was too ashamed to tell anyone until he told us he had moved to an apartment. I wish we had known. We could have paid the taxes and set up some budgets and he could repay us when he sold the condo.”
If there were proceeds after paying off any taxes, liens ot mortgages he pocketed that money.
If he was underwater, there would be nothing there to repay you with.
And if even the owner of a modest home can’t afford the four figures in annual property taxes...?
“All the owner has to do is pay off the taxes.”
Perhaps an owner was an old lady with medical bills.
“At say $2,000 in taxes per house, that $10 million involves about 5,000 houses, mainly owned by people of color.
The property tax is too damn high.”
I stand corrected.
The tax liens are for more than one year of taxes.
“post-pandemic leaps on their property tax bills”
I have repeatedly proposed:
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY TAX AMENDMENT
Levies on any residential property of less than 2799 square feet of finished living space shall be no higher than the 2019 dollar amounts for the property, or for a newer or since resold property no higher than what it would have been levied at for 2019 if it lacked owner specific tax breaks, increased by 3% per calendar year since 2019 and by any percentage increase to its finished living space.
FEDERAL PERSONAL INCOME TAX AMENDMENT
Federal taxation on personal income shall be progressively capped as follows:
below 20% of the median federal full-time civilian employee compensation amount, 10%,
below 50% of the median federal full-time civilian employee compensation amount, 22%,
below the median federal full-time civilian employee compensation amount, 30%,
below the average federal full-time civilian employee compensation of the 100,000 largest recipients, 35%,
below the average federal full-time civilian employee compensation of the 10,000 largest recipients, 40%.
Fighting in Congress to send middle-class income and property taxation cap constitutional amendments to the states would make Congress turn deep red come 2027.
These amendments will serve to reunite the United States.
There’s a reason I picked 2019. The interest rates were slashed by the Federal Reserve during COVID, causing a house price explosion that is only now coming to an end in some places.
“The tax liens are for more than one year of taxes.”
I have not been able to find evidence of that.
“The parcels in the link below were considered delinquent in their real-estate taxes as of Monday October 27, 2025, and were subject to inclusion in the 2025 Tax Lien Sale.”
https://treasurer.franklincountyohio.gov/Delinquent-Taxes/Tax-Lien-Sale
I can’t read this:
https://treasurer.franklincountyohio.gov/files/assets/treasurer/v/1/documents/final-tax-lien-list-2025.csv
I suspect most are in Columbus.
Why are you proposing tax increases?
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