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Sub. S. B. No. 172 As Passed by the SenateAs Passed by the Senate
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Seitz, Hughes, Schiavoni, Skindell, LaRose, Bacon, Beagle, Eklund, Lehner, Manning, Tavares
A BILL
To amend sections 317.32, 321.261, 323.131, 323.25,
323.28, 323.47, 323.65, 323.69, 323.70, 323.71,
323.73, 323.78, 323.79, 715.261, 743.04, 1724.02,
1724.10, 2303.201, 2744.01, 5709.12, 5721.01,
5721.03, 5721.14, 5721.18, 5721.19, 5721.36,
5722.01, 5722.03, 5722.04, 5722.07, 5722.10,
5722.11, 5723.04, 5723.12, and 6119.06 and to
enact sections 323.691 and 5722.031 of the Revised
Code to modify the laws governing land
reutilization programs and property tax
foreclosures.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 317.32, 321.261, 323.131, 323.25,
323.28, 323.47, 323.65, 323.69, 323.70, 323.71, 323.73, 323.78,
323.79, 715.261, 743.04, 1724.02, 1724.10, 2303.201, 2744.01,
5709.12, 5721.01, 5721.03, 5721.14, 5721.18, 5721.19, 5721.36,
5722.01, 5722.03, 5722.04, 5722.07, 5722.10, 5722.11, 5723.04,
5723.12, and 6119.06 be amended and sections 323.691 and 5722.031
of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 317.32. The county recorder shall charge and collect
the following fees, to include, except as otherwise provided in
division (A)(2) of this section, base fees for the recorder's
services and housing trust fund fees collected pursuant to section
317.36 of the Revised Code:
(A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of
this section, for recording and indexing an instrument if the
photocopy or any similar process is employed, a base fee of
fourteen dollars for the first two pages and a housing trust fund
fee of fourteen dollars, and a base fee of four dollars and a
housing trust fund fee of four dollars for each subsequent page,
size eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or fraction of
a page, including the caption page, of such instrument;
(2) For recording and indexing an instrument described in
division (D) of section 317.08 of the Revised Code if the
photocopy or any similar process is employed, a fee of
twenty-eight dollars for the first two pages to be deposited as
specified elsewhere in this division, and a fee of eight dollars
to be deposited in the same manner for each subsequent page, size
eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or fraction of a
page, including the caption page, of that instrument. If the
county recorder's technology fund has been established under
section 317.321 of the Revised Code, of the twenty-eight dollars,
fourteen dollars shall be deposited into the county treasury to
the credit of the county recorder's technology fund and fourteen
dollars shall be deposited into the county treasury to the credit
of the county general fund. If the county recorder's technology
fund has not been established, the twenty-eight dollars shall be
deposited into the county treasury to the credit of the county
general fund.
(B) For certifying a photocopy from the record previously
recorded, a base fee of one dollar and a housing trust fund fee of
one dollar per page, size eight and one-half inches by fourteen
inches, or fraction of a page; for each certification if the
recorder's seal is required, except as to instruments issued by
the armed forces of the United States, a base fee of fifty cents
and a housing trust fund fee of fifty cents;
(C) For entering any marginal reference by separate recorded
instrument, a base fee of two dollars and a housing trust fund fee
of two dollars for each marginal reference set out in that
instrument, in addition to the fees set forth in division (A)(1)
of this section;
(D) For indexing in the real estate mortgage records,
pursuant to section 1309.519 of the Revised Code, financing
statements covering crops growing or to be grown, timber to be
cut, minerals or the like, including oil and gas, accounts subject
to section 1309.301 of the Revised Code, or fixture filings made
pursuant to section 1309.334 of the Revised Code, a base fee of
two dollars and a housing trust fund fee of two dollars for each
name indexed;
(E) For filing zoning resolutions, including text and maps,
in the office of the recorder as required under sections 303.11
and 519.11 of the Revised Code, a base fee of twenty-five dollars
and a housing trust fund fee of twenty-five dollars, regardless of
the size or length of the resolutions;
(F) For filing zoning amendments, including text and maps, in
the office of the recorder as required under sections 303.12 and
519.12 of the Revised Code, a base fee of ten dollars and a
housing trust fund fee of ten dollars regardless of the size or
length of the amendments;
(G) For photocopying a document, other than at the time of
recording and indexing as provided for in division (A)(1) or (2)
of this section, a base fee of one dollar and a housing trust fund
fee of one dollar per page, size eight and one-half inches by
fourteen inches, or fraction thereof;
(H) For local facsimile transmission of a document, a base
fee of one dollar and a housing trust fund fee of one dollar per
page, size eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches, or
fraction thereof; for long distance facsimile transmission of a
document, a base fee of two dollars and a housing trust fund fee
of two dollars per page, size eight and one-half inches by
fourteen inches, or fraction thereof;
(I) For recording a declaration executed pursuant to section
2133.02 of the Revised Code or a durable power of attorney for
health care executed pursuant to section 1337.12 of the Revised
Code, or both a declaration and a durable power of attorney for
health care, a base fee of at least fourteen dollars but not more
than twenty dollars and a housing trust fund fee of at least
fourteen dollars but not more than twenty dollars.
In any county in which the recorder employs the photostatic
or any similar process for recording maps, plats, or prints the
recorder shall determine, charge, and collect for the recording or
rerecording of any map, plat, or print, a base fee of five cents
and a housing trust fund fee of five cents per square inch, for
each square inch of the map, plat, or print filed for that
recording or rerecording, with a minimum base fee of twenty
dollars and a minimum housing trust fund fee of twenty dollars;
for certifying a copy from the record, a base fee of two cents and
a housing trust fund fee of two cents per square inch of the
record, with a minimum base fee of two dollars and a minimum
housing trust fund fee of two dollars.
The fees provided in this section shall be paid upon the
presentation of the instruments for record or upon the application
for any certified copy of the record, except that the payment of
fees for providing copies of instruments conveying or
extinguishing agricultural easements to the office of farmland
preservation in the department of agriculture under division (H)
of section 5301.691 of the Revised Code shall be governed by that
division.
The fees provided for in this section shall not apply to the
recording, indexing, or making of a certified copy or to the
filing of any instrument by a county land reutilization
corporation or any other electing subdivision as defined in
section 5722.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 321.261. (A) In each county treasury there shall be
created the treasurer's delinquent tax and assessment collection
fund and the prosecuting attorney's delinquent tax and assessment
collection fund. Except as otherwise provided in this division,
two and one-half per cent of all delinquent real property,
personal property, and manufactured and mobile home taxes and
assessments collected by the county treasurer shall be deposited
in the treasurer's delinquent tax and assessment collection fund,
and two and one-half per cent of such delinquent taxes and
assessments shall be deposited in the prosecuting attorney's
delinquent tax and assessment collection fund. The board of county
commissioners shall appropriate to the county treasurer from the
treasurer's delinquent tax and assessment collection fund, and
shall appropriate to the prosecuting attorney from the prosecuting
attorney's delinquent tax and assessment collection fund, money to
the credit of the respective fund, and except as provided in
division (D) of this section, the appropriation shall be used only
for the following purposes:
(1) By the county treasurer or the county prosecuting
attorney in connection with the collection of delinquent real
property, personal property, and manufactured and mobile home
taxes and assessments, including proceedings related to
foreclosure of the state's lien for such taxes against such
property;
(2) With respect to any portion of the amount appropriated
from the treasurer's delinquent tax and assessment collection fund
for the benefit of a county land reutilization corporation
organized under Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code, the county land
reutilization corporation. Upon the deposit of amounts in the
treasurer's delinquent tax and assessment collection fund, any
amounts allocated at the direction of the treasurer to the support
of the county land reutilization corporation shall be paid out of
such fund to the corporation upon a warrant of the county auditor.
If the balance in the treasurer's or prosecuting attorney's
delinquent tax and assessment collection fund exceeds three times
the amount deposited into the fund in the preceding year, the
treasurer or prosecuting attorney, on or before the twentieth day
of October of the current year, may direct the county auditor to
forgo the allocation of delinquent taxes and assessments to that
officer's respective fund in the ensuing year. If the county
auditor receives such direction, the auditor shall cause the
portion of taxes and assessments that otherwise would be credited
to the fund under this section in that ensuing year to be
allocated and distributed among taxing units' funds as otherwise
provided in this chapter and other applicable law.
(B) During the period of time that a county land
reutilization corporation is functioning as such on behalf of a
county, the board of county commissioners, upon the request of the
county treasurer, may designate by resolution that an additional
amount, not exceeding five per cent of all collections of
delinquent real property, personal property, and manufactured and
mobile home taxes and assessments, shall be deposited in the
treasurer's delinquent tax and assessment collection fund and be
available for appropriation by the board for the use of the
corporation. Any such amounts so deposited and appropriated under
this division shall be paid out of the treasurer's delinquent tax
and assessment collection fund to the corporation upon a warrant
of the county auditor.
(C) Annually by the first day of December, the county
treasurer and the prosecuting attorney each shall submit a report
to the board of county commissioners regarding the use of the
moneys appropriated from their respective delinquent tax and
assessment collection funds. Each report shall specify the amount
appropriated from the fund during the current calendar year, an
estimate of the amount so appropriated that will be expended by
the end of the year, a summary of how the amount appropriated has
been expended in connection with delinquent tax collection
activities or land reutilization, and an estimate of the amount
that will be credited to the fund during the ensuing calendar
year.
The annual report of a county land reutilization corporation
required by section 1724.05 of the Revised Code shall include
information regarding the amount and use of the moneys that the
corporation received from the treasurer's delinquent tax and
assessment collection fund.
(D)(1) In any county, if the county treasurer or prosecuting
attorney determines that the balance to the credit of that
officer's corresponding delinquent tax and assessment collection
fund exceeds the amount required to be used as prescribed by
division (A) of this section, the county treasurer or prosecuting
attorney may expend the excess to prevent residential mortgage
foreclosures in the county and to address problems associated with
other foreclosed real property. The amount used for that purpose
in any year may not exceed the amount that would cause the fund to
have a reserve of less than twenty per cent of the amount expended
in the preceding year for the purposes of division (A) of this
section. The county treasurer or prosecuting attorney may not
expend any money from the officer's fund for the purpose of land
reutilization unless the county treasurer or prosecuting attorney
obtains the approval of the county investment advisory committee
established under section 135.341 of the Revised Code.
Money authorized to be expended under division (D)(1) of this
section shall be used to provide financial assistance in the form
of loans to borrowers in default on their home mortgages,
including for the payment of late fees, to clear arrearage
balances, and to augment moneys used in the county's foreclosure
prevention program. The money also may be used to assist county
land reutilization corporations, municipal corporations, or
townships in the county, upon their application to the county
treasurer, prosecuting attorney, or the county department of
development, in the nuisance abatement of deteriorated residential
buildings in foreclosure, or vacant, abandoned, tax-delinquent, or
blighted real property, including paying the costs of boarding up
such buildings, lot maintenance, and demolition.
(2) In a county having a population of more than one hundred
thousand according to the department of development's 2006 census
estimate, if the county treasurer or prosecuting attorney
determines that the balance to the credit of that officer's
corresponding delinquent tax and assessment collection fund
exceeds the amount required to be used as prescribed by division
(A) of this section, the county treasurer or prosecuting attorney
may expend the excess to assist county land reutilization
corporations, townships, or municipal corporations located in the
county as provided in division (D)(2) of this section, provided
that the combined amount so expended each year in a county shall
not exceed three five million dollars. Upon application for the
funds by a county land reutilization corporation, township, or
municipal corporation, the county treasurer or prosecuting
attorney may assist the county land reutilization corporation,
township, or municipal corporation in abating foreclosed
residential nuisances, including paying the costs of securing such
buildings, lot maintenance, and demolition. At the prosecuting
attorney's discretion, the prosecuting attorney also may apply the
funds to costs of prosecuting alleged violations of criminal and
civil laws governing real estate and related transactions,
including fraud and abuse.
Sec. 323.131. (A) Each tax bill prepared and mailed or
delivered under section 323.13 of the Revised Code shall be in the
form and contain the information required by the tax commissioner.
The commissioner may prescribe different forms for each county and
may authorize the county auditor to make up tax bills and tax
receipts to be used by the county treasurer. For any county in
which the board of county commissioners has granted a partial
property tax exemption on homesteads under section 323.158 of the
Revised Code, the commissioner shall require that the tax bills
for those homesteads include a notice of the amount of the tax
reduction that results from the partial exemption. In addition to
the information required by the commissioner, each tax bill shall
contain the following information:
(1) The taxes levied and the taxes charged and payable
against the property;
(2) The effective tax rate. The words "effective tax rate"
shall appear in boldface type.
(3) The following notices:
(a) "Notice: If the taxes are not paid within one year sixty
days from the date they are due, the property is subject to
foreclosure for tax delinquency." Failure to provide such notice
has no effect upon the validity of any tax foreclosure to which a
property is subjected.
(b) "Notice: If the taxes charged against this parcel have
been reduced by the 2-1/2 per cent tax reduction for residences
occupied by the owner but the property is not a residence occupied
by the owner, the owner must notify the county auditor's office
not later than March 31 of the year following the year for which
the taxes are due. Failure to do so may result in the owner being
convicted of a fourth degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by
imprisonment up to 30 days, a fine up to $250, or both, and in the
owner having to repay the amount by which the taxes were
erroneously or illegally reduced, plus any interest that may
apply.
If the taxes charged against this parcel have not been
reduced by the 2-1/2 per cent tax reduction and the parcel
includes a residence occupied by the owner, the parcel may qualify
for the tax reduction. To obtain an application for the tax
reduction or further information, the owner may contact the county
auditor's office at .......... (insert the address and telephone
number of the county auditor's office)."
(4) For a tract or lot on the real property tax suspension
list under section 319.48 of the Revised Code, the following
notice: "Notice: The taxes shown due on this bill are for the
current year only. Delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest also
are due on this property. Contact the county treasurer to learn
the total amount due."
The tax bill shall not contain or be mailed or delivered with
any information or material that is not required by this section
or that is not authorized by section 321.45 of the Revised Code or
by the tax commissioner.
(B) If the property is residential rental property, the tax
bill shall contain a statement that the owner of the residential
rental property shall file with the county auditor the information
required under division (A) or (C) of section 5323.02 of the
Revised Code.
(C) As used in this section, "residential rental property"
has the same meaning as in section 5323.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 323.25. When taxes charged against an entry on the tax
duplicate, or any part of those taxes, are not paid within sixty
days after delivery of the delinquent land duplicate to the county
treasurer as prescribed by section 5721.011 of the Revised Code,
the county treasurer shall enforce the lien for the taxes by civil
action in the treasurer's official capacity as treasurer, for the
sale of such premises in the same way mortgage liens are enforced
or for the transfer of such premises to an electing subdivision
pursuant to section 323.28 or 323.78 of the Revised Code, in the
court of common pleas of the county, in a municipal court with
jurisdiction, or in the county board of revision with jurisdiction
pursuant to section 323.66 of the Revised Code.
After Nothing in
this section prohibits the treasurer from instituting such an
action before the delinquent tax list or delinquent vacant land
tax list that includes the premises has been published pursuant to
division (B) of section 5721.03 of the Revised Code if the list is
not published within the time prescribed by that division.
After the civil action has been instituted, but before the
expiration of the applicable redemption period, any person
entitled to redeem the land may do so by tendering to the county
treasurer an amount sufficient, as determined by the court or
board of revision, to pay the taxes, assessments, penalties,
interest, and charges then due and unpaid, and the costs incurred
in the civil action, and by demonstrating that the property is in
compliance with all applicable zoning regulations, land use
restrictions, and building, health, and safety codes.
If the delinquent land duplicate lists minerals or rights to
minerals listed pursuant to sections 5713.04, 5713.05, and 5713.06
of the Revised Code, the county treasurer may enforce the lien for
taxes against such minerals or rights to minerals by civil action,
in the treasurer's official capacity as treasurer, in the manner
prescribed by this section, or proceed as provided under section
5721.46 of the Revised Code.
If service by publication is necessary, such publication
shall be made once a week for three consecutive weeks instead of
as provided by the Rules of Civil Procedure, and the service shall
be complete at the expiration of three weeks after the date of the
first publication. If the prosecuting attorney determines that
service upon a defendant may be obtained ultimately only by
publication, the prosecuting attorney may cause service to be made
simultaneously by certified mail, return receipt requested,
ordinary mail, and publication. The county treasurer shall not
enforce the lien for taxes against real property to which any of
the following applies:
(A) The real property is the subject of an application for
exemption from taxation under section 5715.27 of the Revised Code
and does not appear on the delinquent land duplicate;
(B) The real property is the subject of a valid delinquent
tax contract under section 323.31 of the Revised Code for which
the county treasurer has not made certification to the county
auditor that the delinquent tax contract has become void in
accordance with that section;
(C) A tax certificate respecting that property has been sold
under section 5721.32 or 5721.33 of the Revised Code; provided,
however, that nothing in this division shall prohibit the county
treasurer or the county prosecuting attorney from enforcing the
lien of the state and its political subdivisions for taxes against
a certificate parcel with respect to any or all of such taxes that
at the time of enforcement of such lien are not the subject of a
tax certificate.
Upon application of the plaintiff, the court shall advance
such cause on the docket, so that it may be first heard.
The court may order that the proceeding be transferred to the
county board of revision if so authorized under section 323.691 of
the Revised Code.
Sec. 323.28. (A) A finding shall be entered in a proceeding
under section 323.25 of the Revised Code for taxes, assessments,
penalties, interest, and charges due and payable at the time the
deed of real property sold or transferred under this section is
transferred to the purchaser or transferee, plus the cost of the
proceeding. For purposes of determining such amount, the county
treasurer may estimate the amount of taxes, assessments, interest,
penalties, charges, and costs that will be payable at the time the
deed of the property is transferred to the purchaser or
transferee.
The court of common pleas, a municipal court with
jurisdiction, or the county board of revision with jurisdiction
pursuant to section 323.66 of the Revised Code shall order such
premises to be transferred pursuant to division (E) of this
section or shall order such premises to be sold for payment of the
finding, but for not less than either of the following, unless the
county treasurer applies for an appraisal:
(1) The total amount of such finding;
(2) The fair market value of the premises, as determined by
the county auditor, plus the cost of the proceeding.
If the county treasurer applies for an appraisal, the
premises shall be appraised in the manner provided by section
2329.17 of the Revised Code, and shall be sold for at least
two-thirds of the appraised value.
Notwithstanding the minimum sales price provisions of
divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section to the contrary, a parcel
sold pursuant to this section shall not be sold for less than the
amount described in division (A)(1) of this section if the highest
bidder is the owner of record of the parcel immediately prior to
the judgment of foreclosure or a member of the following class of
parties connected to that owner: a member of that owner's
immediate family, a person with a power of attorney appointed by
that owner who subsequently transfers the parcel to the owner, a
sole proprietorship owned by that owner or a member of the owner's
immediate family, or partnership, trust, business trust,
corporation, or association in which the owner or a member of the
owner's immediate family owns or controls directly or indirectly
more than fifty per cent. If a parcel sells for less than the
amount described in division (A)(1) of this section, the officer
conducting the sale shall require the buyer to complete an
affidavit stating that the buyer is not the owner of record
immediately prior to the judgment of foreclosure or a member of
the specified class of parties connected to that owner, and the
affidavit shall become part of the court records of the
proceeding. If the county auditor discovers within three years
after the date of the sale that a parcel was sold to that owner or
a member of the specified class of parties connected to that owner
for a price less than the amount so described, and if the parcel
is still owned by that owner or a member of the specified class of
parties connected to that owner, the auditor within thirty days
after such discovery shall add the difference between that amount
and the sale price to the amount of taxes that then stand charged
against the parcel and is payable at the next succeeding date for
payment of real property taxes. As used in this paragraph,
"immediate family" means a spouse who resides in the same
household and children.
(B) From the proceeds of the sale the costs shall be first
paid, next the amount found due for taxes, then the amount of any
taxes accruing after the entry of the finding and before the deed
of the property is transferred to the purchaser following the
sale, all of which taxes shall be deemed satisfied, though the
amount applicable to them is deficient, and any balance shall be
distributed according to section 5721.20 of the Revised Code. No
statute of limitations shall apply to such action. Upon sale, all
liens for taxes due at the time the deed of the property is
transferred to the purchaser following the sale, and liens
subordinate to liens for taxes, shall be deemed satisfied and
discharged unless otherwise provided by the order of sale.
(C) If the county treasurer's estimate of the amount of the
finding under division (A) of this section exceeds the amount of
taxes, assessments, interest, penalties, and costs actually
payable when the deed is transferred to the purchaser, the officer
who conducted the sale shall refund to the purchaser the
difference between the estimate and the amount actually payable.
If the amount of taxes, assessments, interest, penalties, and
costs actually payable when the deed is transferred to the
purchaser exceeds the county treasurer's estimate, the officer
shall certify the amount of the excess to the treasurer, who shall
enter that amount on the real and public utility property tax
duplicate opposite the property; the amount of the excess shall be
payable at the next succeeding date prescribed for payment of
taxes in section 323.12 of the Revised Code, and shall not be
deemed satisfied and discharged pursuant to division (B) of this
section.
(D) Premises ordered to be sold under this section but
remaining unsold for want of bidders after being offered for sale
on two separate occasions, not less than two weeks apart, or after
being offered for sale on one occasion in the case of abandoned
land as defined in section 323.65 of the Revised Code, shall be
forfeited to the state or to a political subdivision, school
district, or county land reutilization corporation pursuant to
Chapter 5722. or section 5723.01 of the Revised Code, and shall be
disposed of pursuant to Chapter 5722. or 5723. of the Revised
Code.
(E) Notwithstanding section 5722.03 of the Revised Code, if
the complaint alleges that the property is delinquent vacant land
as defined in section 5721.01 of the Revised Code, abandoned lands
as defined in section 323.65 of the Revised Code, or lands
described in division (E)(F) of section 5722.01 of the Revised
Code, and the value of the taxes, assessments, penalties,
interest, and all other charges and costs of the action exceed the
auditor's fair market value of the parcel, then the court or board
of revision having jurisdiction over the matter on motion of the
plaintiff, or on the court's or board's own motion, shall, upon
any adjudication of foreclosure, order, without appraisal and
without sale, the fee simple title of the property to be
transferred to and vested in an electing subdivision as defined in
division (A) of section 5722.01 of the Revised Code. For purposes
of determining whether the taxes, assessments, penalties,
interest, and all other charges and costs of the action exceed the
actual fair market value of the parcel, the auditor's most current
valuation shall be rebuttably presumed to be, and constitute
prima-facie evidence of, the fair market value of the parcel. In
such case, the filing for journalization of a decree of
foreclosure ordering that direct transfer without appraisal or
sale shall constitute confirmation of the transfer and thereby
terminate any further statutory or common law right of redemption.
(F) Whenever the officer charged to conduct the sale offers
any parcel for sale, the officer first shall read aloud a complete
legal description of the parcel, or in the alternative, may read
aloud only a summary description and a parcel number if the county
has adopted a permanent parcel number system and if the
advertising notice published prior to the sale includes a complete
legal description or indicates where the complete legal
description may be obtained.
Sec. 323.47. (A) If land held by tenants in common is sold
upon proceedings in partition, or taken by the election of any of
the parties to such proceedings, or real estate is sold by
administrators, executors, guardians, or trustees, the court shall
order that the taxes, penalties, and assessments then due and
payable, and interest on those taxes, penalties, and assessments,
that are or will be a lien on such land or real estate at the time
the deed is transferred following the sale, be discharged out of
the proceeds of such sale or election. For purposes of determining
such amount, the county treasurer shall estimate the amount of
taxes, assessments, interest, and penalties that will be payable
at the time the deed of the property is transferred to the
purchaser. If the county treasurer's estimate exceeds the amount
of taxes, assessments, interest, and penalties actually payable
when the deed is transferred to the purchaser, the officer who
conducted the sale shall refund to the purchaser the difference
between the estimate and the amount actually payable. If the
amount of taxes, assessments, interest, and penalties actually
payable when the deed is transferred to the purchaser exceeds the
county treasurer's estimate, the officer shall certify the amount
of the excess to the treasurer, who shall enter that amount on the
real and public utility property tax duplicate opposite the
property; the amount of the excess shall be payable at the next
succeeding date prescribed for payment of taxes in section 323.12
of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) If Except as provided in division (B)(3) of this
section, if real estate is sold at judicial sale, the court shall
order that the total of the following amounts shall be discharged
out of the proceeds of the sale but only to the extent of such
proceeds:
(a) Taxes and assessments the lien for which attaches before
the confirmation of sale but that are not yet determined,
assessed, and levied for the year in which confirmation occurs,
apportioned pro rata to the part of that year that precedes
confirmation, and any penalties and interest on those taxes and
assessments;
(b) All other taxes, assessments, penalties, and interest the
lien for which attached for a prior tax year but that have not
been paid on or before the date of confirmation.
(2) Upon the request of the officer who conducted the sale,
the county treasurer shall estimate the amount in division
(B)(1)(a) of this section. If the county treasurer's estimate
exceeds that amount, the officer who conducted the sale shall
refund to the purchaser the difference between the estimate and
the actual amount. If the actual amount exceeds the county
treasurer's estimate, the officer shall certify the amount of the
excess to the treasurer, who shall enter that amount on the real
and public utility property tax duplicate opposite the property;
the amount of the excess shall be payable at the next succeeding
date prescribed for payment of taxes in section 323.12 of the
Revised Code.
(3) The amounts described in division (B)(1) of this section
shall not be discharged out of the proceeds of a judicial sale,
but shall instead be deemed to be satisfied and discharged upon
confirmation of sale, if both of the following conditions apply:
(a) The real estate is sold pursuant to a foreclosure
proceeding other than a tax foreclosure proceeding initiated under
section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or Chapter 5721. of the
Revised Code.
(b) A county land reutilization corporation organized under
Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code is both the purchaser of the
real estate and the judgment creditor or assignee of all rights,
title, and interest in the judgment arising from the foreclosure
proceeding.
Sec. 323.65. As used in sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the
Revised Code:
(A) "Abandoned land" means delinquent lands or delinquent
vacant lands, including any improvements on the lands, that are
unoccupied and that first appeared on the list compiled under
division (C) of section 323.67 of the Revised Code, or the
delinquent tax list or delinquent vacant land tax list compiled
under section 5721.03 of the Revised Code, at whichever of the
following times is applicable:
(1) In the case of lands other than agricultural lands, at
any time after the county auditor makes the certification of the
delinquent land list under section 5721.011 of the Revised Code;
(2) In the case of agricultural lands, at any time after two
years after the county auditor makes the certification of the
delinquent land list under section 5721.011 of the Revised Code.
(B) "Agricultural land" means lands on the agricultural land
tax list maintained under section 5713.33 of the Revised Code.
(C) "Clerk of court" means the clerk of the court of common
pleas of the county in which specified abandoned land is located.
(D) "Delinquent lands" has and "delinquent vacant lands" have
the same meaning meanings as in section 5721.01 of the Revised
Code.
(E) "Delinquent vacant lands" means all lands that are
delinquent lands and that are unimproved by any structure.
(F) "Impositions" means delinquent taxes, assessments,
penalties, interest, costs, reasonable attorney's fees of a
certificate holder, applicable and permissible costs of the
prosecuting attorney of a county, and other permissible charges
against abandoned land.
(G)(F)(1) "Unoccupied," with respect to a parcel of abandoned
land, means any of the following:
(a) No building, structure, land, or other improvement that
is subject to taxation and that is located on the parcel is
physically inhabited as a dwelling;
(b) No trade or business is actively being conducted on the
parcel by the owner, a tenant, or another party occupying the
parcel pursuant to a lease or other legal authority, or in a
building, structure, or other improvement that is subject to
taxation and that is located on the parcel;
(c) The parcel is uninhabited and there are no signs that it
is undergoing a change in tenancy and remains legally habitable,
or that it is undergoing improvements, as indicated by an
application for a building permit or other facts indicating that
the parcel is experiencing ongoing improvements;
(d) In the case of delinquent vacant land, there is no
permanent structure or improvement affixed on the land.
(2) For purposes of division (G)(F)(1) of this section, it is
prima-facie evidence and a rebuttable presumption that may be
rebutted to the county board of revision that abandoned a parcel
of land is unoccupied if, at the time the county auditor makes the
certification under section 5721.011 of the Revised Code, the
abandoned land parcel is not agricultural land, and two or more of
the following apply:
(a) At the time of the inspection of the abandoned land
parcel by a county, municipal corporation, or township in which
the abandoned land parcel is located, no person, trade, or
business inhabits, or is visibly present from an exterior
inspection of, the abandoned land parcel.
(b) No utility connections, including, but not limited to,
water, sewer, natural gas, or electric connections, service the
abandoned land parcel, or no such utility connections are actively
being billed by any utility provider regarding the abandoned land
parcel.
(c) The abandoned land parcel or any improvement thereon is
boarded up or otherwise sealed because, immediately prior to being
boarded up or sealed, it was deemed by a political subdivision
pursuant to its municipal, county, state, or federal authority to
be open, vacant, or vandalized.
(d) The parcel or any improvement thereon is, upon visible
inspection, insecure, vacant, or vandalized.
(H)(G) "Community development organization" means a nonprofit
corporation that is formed or organized under Chapter 1702. or
1724. of the Revised Code and to which both of the following
apply:
(1) The organization is in good standing under law at the
time the county auditor makes the certification under section
5721.011 of the Revised Code and has remained in good standing
uninterrupted for at least the two years immediately preceding the
time of that certification or, in the case of a county land
reutilization corporation, has remained so from the date of
organization if less than two years.
(2) As of the time the county auditor makes the certification
under section 5721.011 of the Revised Code, the organization has
received from the county, municipal corporation, or township in
which abandoned land is located official authority or agreement by
a duly authorized officer of that county, municipal corporation,
or township to accept the owner's fee simple interest in the
abandoned land and to the abandoned land being foreclosed, and
that official authority or agreement had been delivered to the
county treasurer or county board of revision in a form that will
reasonably confirm the county's, municipal corporation's, or
township's assent to transfer the land to that community
development organization under section 323.74 of the Revised Code.
No such official authority or agreement by a duly authorized
officer of a county, municipal corporation, or township must be
received if a county land reutilization corporation is authorized
to receive tax-foreclosed property under its articles of
incorporation, regulations, or Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code.
(I)(H) "Certificate holder" has the same meaning as in
section 5721.30 of the Revised Code.
(J)(I) "Abandoned land list" means the list of abandoned
lands compiled under division (A) of section 323.67 of the Revised
Code.
(K)(J) "Alternative redemption period," in any action to
foreclose the state's lien for unpaid delinquent taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, interest, and costs on a parcel
of real property pursuant to section 323.25, sections 323.65 to
323.79, or section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, means forty-five
twenty-eight days after an adjudication of foreclosure of the
parcel is journalized by a court or county board of revision
having jurisdiction over the foreclosure proceedings. Upon the
expiration of the alternative redemption period, the right and
equity of redemption of any owner or party shall terminate without
further order of the court or board of revision. As used in any
section of the Revised Code and for any proceeding under this
chapter or section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, for purposes of
determining the alternative redemption period, the period
commences on the day immediately following the journalization of
the adjudication of foreclosure and ends on and includes the
forty-fifth twenty-eighth day thereafter.
(L)(K) "County land reutilization corporation" means a
corporation organized under Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 323.69. (A) Upon the completion of the title search
required by section 323.68 of the Revised Code, the prosecuting
attorney, representing the county treasurer, the county land
reutilization corporation, or the certificate holder may file with
the clerk of court a complaint for the foreclosure of each parcel
of abandoned land appearing on the abandoned land list, and for
the equity of redemption on each parcel. The complaint shall name
all parties having any interest of record in the abandoned land
that was discovered in the title search. The prosecuting attorney,
county land reutilization corporation, or certificate holder may
file such a complaint regardless of whether the parcel has
appeared on a delinquent tax list or delinquent vacant land tax
list published pursuant to division (B) of section 5721.03 of the
Revised Code.
(B)(1) In accordance with Civil Rule 4, the clerk of court
promptly shall serve notice of the summons and the complaint filed
under division (A) of this section to the last known address of
the record owner of the abandoned land and to the last known
address of each lienholder or other person having a legal or
equitable ownership interest or security interest of record
identified by the title search. The notice shall inform the
addressee that delinquent taxes stand charged against the
abandoned land; that the land will be sold at public auction or
otherwise disposed of if not redeemed by the owner or other
addressee; that the sale or transfer will occur at a date, time,
and place, and in the manner prescribed in sections 323.65 to
323.79 of the Revised Code; that the owner or other addressee may
redeem the land by paying the total of the impositions against the
land at any time before confirmation of sale or transfer of the
parcel as prescribed in sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code or before the expiration of the alternative redemption
period, as may be applicable to the proceeding; that the case is
being prosecuted by the prosecuting attorney of the county in the
name of the county treasurer for the county in which the abandoned
land is located or by a certificate holder, whichever is
applicable; of the name, address, and telephone number of the
county board of revision before which the action is pending; of
the board case number for the action, which shall be maintained in
the official file and docket of the clerk of court; and that all
subsequent pleadings, petitions, and papers associated with the
case and filed by any interested party must be filed with the
clerk of court and will become part of the case file for the board
of revision.
(2) The notice required by division (B)(1) of this section
also shall inform the addressee that any owner of record may, at
any time on or before the twentieth fourteenth day after service
of process is perfected, file a pleading with the clerk of court
requesting that the board dismiss the complaint and order that the
abandoned land identified in the notice be removed from the
abandoned land list. The notice shall further inform the addressee
that, upon filing such a pleading to remove the abandoned land
from that list if such a motion for dismissal is granted, the
abandoned land will be removed from the list and cannot thereafter
be disposed of under sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code, until the record owner of the abandoned land who is provided
notice under division (B)(1) of this section sells or otherwise
conveys the owner's ownership interest, and that any future
attempts to collect delinquent taxes, interest, penalties, and
charges owed with respect to that land and appearing on the
delinquent tax list or delinquent vacant land tax list, whichever
the case may be, will be conducted in accordance with the judicial
foreclosure proceedings and other remedies and procedures
prescribed under sections 323.25 to 323.28 or under Chapters
5721., 5722., and 5723. of the Revised Code until the record owner
sells or otherwise conveys the owner's ownership interest.
(3) A party that is served with notice of the summons and the
complaint by publication as provided in section 5721.18 of the
Revised Code shall answer, plead, or appear in the proceeding
within thirty days after final publication of the notice. If the
party fails to answer, plead, or appear before that deadline, the
party shall be deemed to be in default and no further service as
to any subsequent proceedings is required on the party.
(C) Subsequent pleadings, motions, or papers associated with
the case and filed with the clerk of court shall be served upon
all parties of record in accordance with Civil Rules 4 and 5,
except that service by publication in any case requiring such
service shall require that any such publication shall be
advertised in the manner, and for the time periods and frequency,
prescribed in section 5721.18 of the Revised Code. A party that
fails to appear after being served with notice of a final or
interim hearing, by publication or otherwise, shall be deemed to
be in default, and no further service as to any subsequent
proceedings is required on such a party. Any inadvertent
noncompliance with those rules does not serve to defeat or
terminate the case, or subject the case to dismissal, as long as
actual notice or service of filed papers is shown by a
preponderance of the evidence or is acknowledged by the party
charged with notice or service, including by having made an
appearance or filing in relation to the case. The county board of
revision may conduct evidentiary hearings on the sufficiency of
process, service of process, or sufficiency of service of papers
in any proceeding arising from a complaint filed under this
section. Other than the notice and service provisions contained in
Civil Rules 4 and 5, the Rules of Civil Procedure shall not be
applicable to the proceedings of the board. The board of revision
may utilize procedures contained in the Rules of Civil Procedure
to the extent that such use facilitates the needs of the
proceedings, such as vacating orders, correcting clerical
mistakes, and providing notice to parties. To the extent not
otherwise provided in sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code, the board may apply the procedures prescribed by sections
323.25 to 323.28 or Chapters 5721., 5722., and 5723. of the
Revised Code. Board practice shall be in accordance with the
practice and rules, if any, of the board that are promulgated by
the board under section 323.66 of the Revised Code and are not
inconsistent with sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code.
(D) At any time after a foreclosure action is filed under
this section, the county board of revision may, upon its own
motion, dismiss the case without prejudice if it determines that,
given the complexity of the case or other circumstances, a court
would be a more appropriate forum for the action.
Sec. 323.691. (A)(1) A county board of revision may order
that a proceeding arising from a complaint filed under section
323.69 of the Revised Code be transferred to the court of common
pleas or to a municipal court with jurisdiction. The board may
order such a transfer upon the motion of the record owner of the
parcel or the county prosecuting attorney, representing the county
treasurer, or upon its own motion.
(2) A court of common pleas or municipal court may order that
a proceeding arising from a complaint filed under sections 323.25
to 323.28 or Chapter 5721. of the Revised Code be transferred to a
county board of revision if the court determines that the real
property that is the subject of the complaint is abandoned land,
provided that the appropriate board of revision has adopted a
resolution under section 323.66 of the Revised Code to adjudicate
cases as provided under sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code. There is a rebuttable presumption that a parcel of land is
unoccupied if any of the factors described in division (F)(2) of
section 323.65 of the Revised Code apply to the parcel. The court
may order a transfer under this division upon the motion of the
record owner of the parcel or the county prosecuting attorney,
representing the county treasurer, or upon its own motion.
(B) On or before the twenty-eighth day after the
journalization of an order of transfer issued pursuant to division
(A) of this section, the county prosecuting attorney shall file a
copy of the journalized order of transfer and a notice of transfer
and dismissal with the clerk of court and with the court or board
to which the case was transferred. In any action transferred to a
county board of revision, the prosecuting attorney shall serve the
notice of transfer upon all parties to the action except any party
that previously failed to answer, plea, or appear in the
proceeding as required in Civil Rule 12. In any action transferred
to a court, the prosecuting attorney shall serve the notice of
transfer upon all parties to the action except those parties
deemed to be in default under division (C) of section 323.69 of
the Revised Code.
(C) Upon journalization of the order of transfer, the clerk
of court shall proceed as if the transferred complaint had been
filed with the court or board to which the proceeding was
transferred, except that the clerk is not required to perfect a
notice of summons and complaint to any party that had already been
served such notice. When the prosecuting attorney files the notice
of transfer as prescribed in division (B) of this section, the
clerk shall stamp or otherwise indicate on the notice a new case
number for the proceeding. The clerk shall assign the entire case
file to the court or board to which the proceeding was
transferred, including any preliminary or final reports,
documents, or other evidence made available to the transferring
court or board. All such reports, documents, and other evidence
shall be received by the court or board to which the proceeding
was transferred as competent evidence for the purposes of
adjudicating the proceeding. That court or board shall accept all
such reports, documents, and evidence in the case file unless
otherwise required by law or unless the court or board determines
that doing so would not be in the interests of justice.
The court or board to which the proceeding is transferred
shall serve notice of the summons and the complaint as required in
Civil Rule 4 or section 323.69 of the Revised Code, as applicable,
upon any parties not yet served such notice in the proceeding.
(D) If a county prosecuting attorney does not file a notice
of transfer as required under division (B) of this section on or
before the twenty-eighth day after the journalization of an order
of transfer issued under division (A) of this section, or upon the
motion of the prosecuting attorney, court, or board before that
date, the complaint that is the subject of the order of transfer
shall be deemed to have been dismissed without prejudice by both
the court and the board of revision.
(E) Upon the journalization of an order of transfer issued
under division (A) of this section, the case shall be deemed to
have been dismissed without prejudice by the transferring court or
board.
Sec. 323.70. (A) Subject to this section and to sections
323.71 and 323.72 of the Revised Code, a county board of revision
shall conduct a final hearing on the merits of a complaint filed
under section 323.69 of the Revised Code, including the validity
or amount of any impositions alleged in the complaint, not sooner
than thirty days after the service of notice of summons and
complaint has been perfected. If, after a hearing, the board finds
that the validity or amount of all or a portion of the impositions
is not supported by a preponderance of the evidence, the board may
order the county auditor to remove from the tax list and duplicate
amounts the board finds invalid or not supported by a
preponderance of the evidence. The auditor shall remove all such
amounts from the tax list and duplicate as ordered by the board of
revision, including any impositions asserted under sections 715.26
and 715.261 of the Revised Code.
(B) If Subject to section 323.691 of the Revised Code, if, on
or before the twentieth fourteenth day after service of process is
perfected under division (B) of section 323.69 of the Revised
Code, a record owner or the United States government files with
the clerk of court a motion requesting that the county board of
revision order the complaint to be dismissed
and the abandoned
land removed from the abandoned land list, the board shall,
without conducting a hearing on the matter, promptly dismiss the
complaint for foreclosure of that land and order the land to be
removed from the list. Thereafter, until the record owner sells or
otherwise conveys the owner's ownership interest, any attempts to
collect delinquent taxes, interest, penalties, and charges owed
with respect to that land and appearing on the delinquent tax list
or delinquent vacant land tax list, whichever the case may be,
shall be conducted in accordance with the judicial foreclosure
proceedings and other remedies and procedures prescribed under
sections 323.25 to 323.28 or under Chapters 5721., 5722., and
5723. of the Revised Code.
(C) A county board of revision, in accordance with the Rules
of Civil Procedure, may issue subpoenas compelling the attendance
of witnesses and the production of papers, books, accounts, and
testimony as necessary to conduct a hearing under this section or
to otherwise adjudicate a case under sections 323.65 to 323.79 of
the Revised Code.
Sec. 323.71. (A)(1) If the county board of revision, upon its
own motion or pursuant to a hearing under division (A)(2) of this
section, determines that the impositions against a parcel of
abandoned land that is the subject of a complaint filed under
section 323.69 of the Revised Code exceed the fair market value of
that parcel as currently shown by the latest valuation by the
auditor of the county in which the land is located, then the board
may proceed to hear and adjudicate the case as provided under
sections 323.70 and 323.72 of the Revised Code. Upon entry of an
order of foreclosure, the parcel may be disposed of as prescribed
by division (G) of section 323.73 of the Revised Code.
If the board of revision, upon its own motion or pursuant to
a hearing under division (A)(2) of this section, determines that
the impositions against a parcel do not exceed the fair market
value of the parcel as shown by the county auditor's then-current
valuation of the parcel, the parcel shall not be disposed of as
prescribed by division (G) of section 323.73 of the Revised Code,
but may be disposed of as otherwise provided in section 323.73,
323.74, 323.75, 323.77, or 323.78 of the Revised Code.
(2) By a motion filed not later than seven days before a
final hearing on a complaint is held under section 323.70 of the
Revised Code, an owner or lienholder may file with the county
board of revision a good faith appraisal of the parcel from a
licensed professional appraiser and request a hearing to determine
whether the impositions against the parcel of abandoned land
exceed or do not exceed the fair market value of that parcel as
shown by the auditor's then-current valuation of that parcel. If
the motion is timely filed, the board of revision shall conduct a
hearing and shall make a factual finding as to whether the
impositions against the parcel exceed or do not exceed the fair
market value of that parcel as shown by the auditor's then-current
valuation of that parcel. An owner or lienholder must show by a
preponderance of the evidence that the impositions against the
parcel do not exceed the auditor's then-current valuation of the
parcel in order to preclude the application of division (G) of
section 323.73 of the Revised Code.
(B) Any parcel of abandoned land for which the complaint is
not dismissed and that is not removed from the abandoned land list
in accordance with division (A) of this section or pursuant to a
dismissal petition filed under division (B) of section 323.70 of
the Revised Code shall be disposed of as prescribed in sections
323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code.
(C) Notwithstanding sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code to the contrary, for purposes of determining in any
proceeding under those sections whether the total of the
impositions against the abandoned land exceed the fair market
value of the abandoned land, it is prima-facie evidence and a
rebuttable presumption that may be rebutted to the county board of
revision that the auditor's then-current valuation of that
abandoned land is the fair market value of the land, regardless of
whether an independent appraisal has been performed.
Sec. 323.73. (A) Except as provided in division (G) of this
section or section 323.78 of the Revised Code, a parcel of
abandoned land that is to be disposed of under this section shall
be disposed of at a public auction scheduled and conducted as
described in this section. At least twenty-one days prior to the
date of the public auction, the clerk of court or sheriff of the
county shall advertise the public auction in a newspaper of
general circulation that meets the requirements of section 7.12 of
the Revised Code in the county in which the land is located. The
advertisement shall include the date, time, and place of the
auction, the permanent parcel number of the land if a permanent
parcel number system is in effect in the county as provided in
section 319.28 of the Revised Code or, if a permanent parcel
number system is not in effect, any other means of identifying the
parcel, and a notice stating that the abandoned land is to be sold
subject to the terms of sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code.
(B) The sheriff of the county or a designee of the sheriff
shall conduct the public auction at which the abandoned land will
be offered for sale. To qualify as a bidder, a person shall file
with the sheriff on a form provided by the sheriff a written
acknowledgment that the abandoned land being offered for sale is
to be conveyed in fee simple to the successful bidder. At the
auction, the sheriff of the county or a designee of the sheriff
shall begin the bidding at an amount equal to the total of the
impositions against the abandoned land, plus the costs apportioned
to the land under section 323.75 of the Revised Code. The
abandoned land shall be sold to the highest bidder. The county
sheriff or designee may reject any and all bids not meeting the
minimum bid requirements specified in this division.
(C) Except as otherwise permitted under section 323.74 of the
Revised Code, the successful bidder at a public auction conducted
under this section shall pay the sheriff of the county or a
designee of the sheriff a deposit of at least ten per cent of the
purchase price in cash, or by bank draft or official bank check,
at the time of the public auction, and shall pay the balance of
the purchase price within thirty days after the day on which the
auction was held. Notwithstanding At the time of the public
auction and before the successful bidder pays the deposit, the
sheriff or a designee of the sheriff may provide notice to the
successful bidder that failure to pay the balance of the purchase
price within the prescribed period shall be considered a default
under the terms of the sale and shall result in retention of the
deposit as payment for the costs associated with advertising and
offering the abandoned land for sale at a future public auction.
If such a notice is provided to the successful bidder and the
bidder fails to pay the balance of the purchase price within the
prescribed period, the sale shall be deemed rejected by the county
board of revision due to default, and the sheriff shall retain the
full amount of the deposit. In such a case, rejection of the sale
shall occur automatically without any action necessary on the part
of the sheriff, county prosecuting attorney, or board. If the
amount retained by the sheriff is less than the total costs of
advertising and offering the abandoned land for sale at a future
public auction, the sheriff or county prosecuting attorney may
initiate an action to recover the amount of any deficiency from
the bidder in the court of common pleas of the county or in a
municipal court with jurisdiction.
Following a default and rejection of sale under this
division, the abandoned land involved in the rejected sale shall
be disposed of in accordance with sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the
Revised Code or as otherwise prescribed by law. The defaulting
bidder, any member of the bidder's immediate family, any person
with a power of attorney granted by the bidder, and any
pass-through entity, trust, corporation, association, or other
entity directly or indirectly owned or controlled by the bidder or
a member of the defaulting bidder's immediate family shall be
prohibited from bidding on the abandoned land at any future public
auction for five years from the date of the bidder's default.
Notwithstanding section 321.261 of the Revised Code, with
respect to any proceedings initiated pursuant to sections 323.65
to 323.79 of the Revised Code, from the total proceeds arising
from the sale, transfer, or redemption of abandoned land, twenty
per cent of such proceeds shall be deposited to the credit of the
county treasurer's delinquent tax and assessment collection fund
to reimburse the fund for costs paid from the fund for the
transfer, redemption, or sale of abandoned land at public auction.
Not more than one-half of the twenty per cent may be used by the
treasurer for community development, nuisance abatement,
foreclosure prevention, demolition, and related services or
distributed by the treasurer to a land reutilization corporation.
The balance of the proceeds, if any, shall be distributed to the
appropriate political subdivisions and other taxing units in
proportion to their respective claims for taxes, assessments,
interest, and penalties on the land. Upon the sale of foreclosed
lands, the clerk of court shall hold any surplus proceeds in
excess of the impositions until the clerk receives an order of
priority and amount of distribution of the surplus that are
adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction or receives a
certified copy of an agreement between the parties entitled to a
share of the surplus providing for the priority and distribution
of the surplus. Any party to the action claiming a right to
distribution of surplus shall have a separate cause of action in
the county or municipal court of the jurisdiction in which the
land reposes, provided the board confirms the transfer or
regularity of the sale. Any dispute over the distribution of the
surplus shall not affect or revive the equity of redemption after
the board confirms the transfer or sale.
(D) Upon the sale or transfer of abandoned land pursuant to
this section, the owner's fee simple interest in the land shall be
conveyed to the purchaser. A conveyance under this division is
free and clear of any liens and encumbrances of the parties named
in the complaint for foreclosure attaching before the sale or
transfer, and free and clear of any liens for taxes, except for
federal tax liens and covenants and easements of record attaching
before the sale.
(E) The county board of revision shall reject the sale of
abandoned land to any person if it is shown by a preponderance of
the evidence that the person is delinquent in the payment of taxes
levied by or pursuant to Chapter 307., 322., 324., 5737., 5739.,
5741., or 5743. of the Revised Code or any real property taxing
provision of the Revised Code. The board also shall reject the
sale of abandoned land to any person if it is shown by a
preponderance of the evidence that the person is delinquent in the
payment of property taxes on any parcel in the county, or to a
member of any of the following classes of parties connected to
that person:
(1) A member of that person's immediate family;
(2) Any other person with a power of attorney appointed by
that person;
(3) A sole proprietorship owned by that person or a member of
that person's immediate family;
(4) A partnership, trust, business trust, corporation,
association, or other entity in which that person or a member of
that person's immediate family owns or controls directly or
indirectly any beneficial or legal interest.
(F) If the purchase of abandoned land sold pursuant to this
section or section 323.74 of the Revised Code is for less than the
sum of the impositions against the abandoned land and the costs
apportioned to the land under division (A) of section 323.75 of
the Revised Code, then, upon the sale or transfer, all liens for
taxes due at the time the deed of the property is conveyed to the
purchaser following the sale or transfer, and liens subordinate to
liens for taxes, shall be deemed satisfied and discharged.
(G) If the county board of revision finds that the total of
the impositions against the abandoned land are greater than the
fair market value of the abandoned land as determined by the
auditor's then-current valuation of that land, the board, at any
final hearing under section 323.70 of the Revised Code, may order
the property foreclosed and, without an appraisal or public
auction, order the sheriff to execute a deed to the certificate
holder or county land reutilization corporation that filed a
complaint under section 323.69 of the Revised Code, or to a
community development organization, school district, municipal
corporation, county, or township, whichever is applicable, as
provided in section 323.74 of the Revised Code. Upon a transfer
under this division, all liens for taxes due at the time the deed
of the property is transferred to the certificate holder,
community development organization, school district, municipal
corporation, county, or township following the conveyance, and
liens subordinate to liens for taxes, shall be deemed satisfied
and discharged.
Sec. 323.78. (A) Notwithstanding anything in Chapters 323.,
5721., and 5723. of the Revised Code, if the a county treasurer of
a county in which a county land reutilization operates, in any
petition for foreclosure of abandoned lands, elects to invoke the
alternative redemption period, then upon any adjudication of
foreclosure by any court or the board of revision in any
proceeding under section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or
section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, the following apply:
(A) Unless otherwise ordered by a motion of the court or
board of revision, the petition shall assert, and any notice of
final hearing shall include, that upon foreclosure of the parcel,
the equity of redemption in any parcel by its owner shall be
forever terminated after the expiration of the alternative
redemption period, that the parcel thereafter may be sold at
sheriff's sale either by itself or together with other parcels as
permitted by law; or that the parcel may, by order of the court or
board of revision, be transferred directly to a municipal
corporation, township, county, school district, or county land
reutilization corporation without appraisal and without a sale,
free and clear of all impositions and any other liens on the
property, which shall be deemed forever satisfied and discharged.
(B) After the expiration of the alternative redemption period
following an adjudication of foreclosure, by order of the court or
board of revision, any equity of redemption is forever
extinguished, and the parcel may be transferred individually or in
lots with other tax-foreclosed properties to a municipal
corporation, township, county, school district, or county land
reutilization corporation without appraisal and without a sale,
upon which all impositions and any other liens subordinate to
liens for impositions due at the time the deed to the property is
conveyed to a purchaser or transferred to a community development
organization, county land reutilization corporation, municipal
corporation, county, township, or school district, shall be deemed
satisfied and discharged. Other than the order of the court or
board of revision so ordering the transfer of the parcel, no
further act of confirmation or other order shall be required for
such a transfer, or for the extinguishment of any right of
redemption.
(C) Upon the expiration of the alternative redemption period
in cases to which the alternative redemption period has been
ordered, may elect to invoke the alternative redemption period in
any petition for foreclosure of abandoned lands under section
323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or section 5721.18 of the
Revised Code.
(B) If a county treasurer invokes the alternative redemption
period pursuant to this section, and if a municipal corporation,
township, county, school district, community development
organization, or county land reutilization corporation has
requested title to the parcel, then upon adjudication of
foreclosure of the parcel, the court or board of revision shall
order, in the decree of foreclosure or by separate order, that the
equity of redemption and any statutory or common law right of
redemption in the parcel by its owner shall be forever terminated
after the expiration of the alternative redemption period and that
the parcel shall be transferred by deed directly to the requesting
municipal corporation, township, county, school district,
community development corporation, or county land reutilization
corporation without appraisal and without a sale, free and clear
of all impositions and any other liens on the property, which
shall be deemed forever satisfied and discharged. The court or
board of revision shall order such a transfer regardless of
whether the value of the taxes, assessments, penalties, interest,
and other charges due on the parcel, and the costs of the action,
exceed the fair market value of the parcel. No further act of
confirmation or other order shall be required for such a transfer,
or for the extinguishment of any statutory or common law right of
redemption.
(C) If a county treasurer invokes the alternative redemption
period pursuant to this section and if no community development
organization, county land reutilization corporation, municipal
corporation, county, township, or school district has requested
title to the parcel,
then upon adjudication of foreclosure of the
parcel, the court or board of revision may shall order the
property sold as otherwise provided in Chapters 323. and 5721. of
the Revised Code, and, failing any bid at any such sale, the
parcel shall be forfeited to the state and otherwise disposed of
pursuant to Chapter 5723. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 323.79. Any party to any proceeding instituted pursuant
to sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code who is aggrieved
in any of the proceedings of the county board of revision under
those sections may file an appeal in the court of common pleas
pursuant to Chapters 2505. and 2506. of the Revised Code upon a
final order of foreclosure and forfeiture by the board. A final
order of foreclosure and forfeiture occurs upon confirmation of
any sale or upon confirmation of any conveyance or transfer to a
certificate holder, community development organization, county
land reutilization corporation organized under Chapter 1724. of
the Revised Code, municipal corporation, county, or township
pursuant to sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code. An
appeal as provided in this section shall proceed as an appeal de
novo and may include issues raised or adjudicated in the
proceedings before the county board of revision, as well as other
issues that are raised for the first time on appeal and that are
pertinent to the abandoned land that is the subject of those
proceedings.
An appeal shall be filed not later than fourteen days after
one of the date following dates:
(A) The date on which the order of confirmation of the sale
or of the conveyance or transfer to a certificate holder,
community development organization, county land reutilization
corporation, municipal corporation, county, or township is filed
with and journalized by the clerk of court;
(B) In the case of a direct transfer to a certificate holder,
community development organization, county land reutilization
corporation, municipal corporation, county, or township under
section 323.78 or division (G) of section 323.73 of the Revised
Code, the date on which an order of transfer or conveyance,
whether included in the decree of foreclosure or a separate order,
is first filed with and journalized by the clerk of court. The
The court does not have jurisdiction to hear any appeal filed
after the expiration of that
the applicable fourteen-day period.
If the fourteenth day after the date on which the confirmation
order is filed with the clerk of court falls upon a weekend or
official holiday during which the court is closed, then the filing
shall be made on the next day the court is open for business.
The expiration of the fourteen-day period in which an appeal
may be filed with respect to an abandoned parcel under this
section shall not extinguish or otherwise affect the right of a
party to redeem the parcel as otherwise provided in sections
323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 715.261. (A) As used in this section, "total cost"
means any costs incurred due to the use of employees, materials,
or equipment of the municipal corporation or its agent pursuant to
division (E) of this section, any costs arising out of contracts
for labor, materials, or equipment, and costs of service of notice
or publication required under this section.
(B) A municipal corporation or its agent pursuant to division
(E) of this section may collect the total cost of removing,
repairing, or securing insecure, unsafe, structurally defective,
abandoned, deserted, or open and vacant buildings or other
structures, of making emergency corrections of hazardous
conditions, or of abating any nuisance by any of the following
methods: prescribed in division (B)(1), (2), or (3) of this
section.
(1) The clerk of the legislative authority of the municipal
corporation or its agent pursuant to division (E) of this section
may certify the total costs, together with a proper description of
the lands, to the county auditor who shall place the costs upon
the tax list and duplicate. The costs are a lien upon such lands
from and after the date the costs were incurred. The costs shall
be collected as other taxes and returned to the municipal
corporation or its agent pursuant to division (E) of this section,
as directed by the clerk of the legislative authority in the
certification of the total costs or in an affidavit from the agent
delivered to the county auditor or county treasurer. The placement
of the costs on the tax list and duplicate relates back to, and is
effective in priority, as of the date the costs were incurred,
provided that the municipal corporation or its agent pursuant to
division (E) of this section certifies the total costs within one
year from the date the costs were incurred.
If a lien placed on a parcel of land pursuant to this
division is extinguished as provided in division (H) of this
section, a municipal corporation may pursue the remedy available
under division (B)(2) of this section to recoup the costs incurred
with respect to that parcel from any person that held title to the
parcel at the time the costs were incurred.
(2) The municipal corporation or its agent pursuant to
division (E) of this section may commence a civil action to
recover the total costs from the owner person that held title to
the parcel at the time the costs were incurred.
(3) A municipal corporation or its agent pursuant to division
(E) of this section may file a lien on a parcel of land for the
total costs incurred under this section with respect to the parcel
by filing a written affidavit with the county recorder of the
county in which the parcel is located that states the parcel
number, the total costs incurred with respect to the parcel, and
the date such costs were incurred. The municipal corporation or
its agent may pursue a foreclosure action to enforce the lien in a
court of competent jurisdiction or, pursuant to sections 323.65 to
323.79 of the Revised Code, with the board of revision. The
municipal corporation or its agent may elect to acquire the parcel
by indicating such an election in the complaint for foreclosure or
in an amended complaint. Upon the entry of a decree of
foreclosure, the county sheriff shall advertise and offer the
property for sale on at least one occasion. The minimum bid with
regard to the sale of the foreclosed property shall equal the sum
of the taxes, penalties, interest, costs, and assessments due and
payable on the property, the total costs incurred by the municipal
corporation or its agent with respect to the property, and any
associated court costs and interest as authorized by law. An owner
of the property may redeem the property by paying the minimum bid
within ten days after the entry of the decree of foreclosure. If
an owner fails to so redeem the property, and if the parcel is not
sold for want of a minimum bid, the property shall be disposed of
as follows:
(a) If the municipal corporation or its agent elects to
acquire the property, the parcel shall be transferred to the
municipal corporation or its agent as if the property were
transferred by all owners in title to the municipal corporation or
its agent in lieu of foreclosure as provided in section 5722.10 of
the Revised Code;
(b) If the municipal corporation or its agent does not elect
to acquire the property, the parcel shall be forfeited to the
state or to a political subdivision or school district as provided
in Chapter 5723. of the Revised Code.
When a municipal corporation or its agent acquires property
as provided in this division, the property shall not be subject to
foreclosure or forfeiture under section 323.25 or Chapter 5721. or
5723. of the Revised Code, and any lien on the property for costs
incurred under this section or for any unpaid taxes, penalties,
interest, charges, or assessments shall be extinguished.
(C) This section applies to any action taken by a municipal
corporation, or its agent pursuant to division (E) of this
section, pursuant to section 715.26 of the Revised Code or
pursuant to Section 3 of Article XVIII, Ohio Constitution.
(D) A municipal corporation or its agent pursuant to division
(E) of this section shall not certify to the county auditor for
placement upon the tax list and duplicate the cost of any action
that it takes under division (B) of this section if the action is
taken on land that has been forfeited to this state for delinquent
taxes, unless the owner of record redeems the land.
(E) A municipal corporation may enter into an agreement with
a county land reutilization corporation organized under Chapter
1724. of the Revised Code wherein the county land reutilization
corporation agrees to act as the agent of the municipal
corporation in connection with removing, repairing, or securing
insecure, unsafe, structurally defective, abandoned, deserted, or
open and vacant buildings or other structures, making emergency
corrections of hazardous conditions, or abating any nuisance,
including high weeds, overgrown brush, and trash and debris from
vacant lots. The total costs of such actions may be collected by
the corporation pursuant to division (B) of this section, and
shall be paid to the corporation if it paid or incurred such costs
and has not been reimbursed.
(F) In the case of the lien of a county land reutilization
corporation that is the agent of a municipal corporation, a
notation shall be placed on the tax list and duplicate showing the
amount of the lien ascribed specifically to the agent's total
costs. The agent has standing to pursue a separate cause of action
for money damages to satisfy the lien or pursue a foreclosure
action in a court of competent jurisdiction or with the board of
revision to enforce the lien without regard to occupancy. For
purposes of a foreclosure proceeding by the county treasurer for
delinquent taxes, this division does not affect the lien priority
as between a county land reutilization corporation and the county
treasurer, but the corporation's lien is superior to the lien of
any other lienholder of the property. As to a direct action by a
county land reutilization corporation, the lien for the taxes,
assessment, charges, costs, penalties, and interest on the tax
list and duplicate is in all cases superior to the lien of a
county land reutilization corporation, whose lien for total costs
shall be next in priority as against all other interests, except
as provided in division (G) of this section.
(G) A county land reutilization corporation acting as an
agent of a municipal corporation under an agreement under this
section may, with the county treasurer's consent, petition the
court or board of revision with jurisdiction over an action
undertaken under division (F) of this section pleading that the
lien of the corporation, as agent, for the total costs shall be
superior to the lien for the taxes, assessments, charges, costs,
penalties, and interest. If the court or board of revision
determines that the lien is for total costs paid or incurred by
the corporation as such an agent, and that subordinating the lien
for such taxes and other impositions to the lien of the
corporation promotes the expeditious abatement of public
nuisances, the court or board may order the lien for the taxes and
other impositions to be subordinate to the corporation's lien. The
court or board may not subordinate the lien for taxes and other
such impositions to any other liens.
(H) When a parcel of land upon which a lien has been placed
under division (B)(1) or (3) of this section is transferred to a
county land reutilization corporation, the lien on the parcel
shall be extinguished if the lien is for costs or charges that
were incurred before the date of the transfer to the corporation
and if the corporation did not incur the costs or charges,
regardless of whether the lien was attached or the costs or
charges were certified before the date of transfer. In such a
case, the county land reutilization corporation and its successors
in title shall take title to the property free and clear of any
such lien and shall be immune from liability in any action to
collect such costs or charges.
If a county land reutilization corporation takes title to
property before any costs or charges have been certified or any
lien has been placed with respect to the property under division
(B)(1) or (3) of this section, the corporation shall be deemed a
bona fide purchaser for value without knowledge of such costs or
lien, regardless of whether the corporation had actual or
constructive knowledge of the costs or lien, and any such lien
shall be void and unenforceable against the corporation and its
successors in title.
(I) A municipal corporation or county land reutilization
corporation may file an affidavit with the county recorder under
section 5301.252 of the Revised Code stating the nature and extent
of any proceedings undertaken under this section. Such an
affidavit may include a legal description of a parcel or, in lieu
thereof, the common address of the parcel and the permanent parcel
number to which such address applies.
Sec. 743.04. (A) For the purpose of paying the expenses of
conducting and managing the waterworks of a municipal corporation,
including operating expenses and the costs of permanent
improvements, the director of public service or any other city
official or body authorized by charter may assess and collect a
water rent or charge of sufficient amount and in such manner as he
the director, other official, or it
body determines to be most
equitable from all tenements and premises supplied with water.
When water rents or charges are not paid when due, the director or
other official or body may do either or both of the following:
(A)(1) Certify them, together with any penalties, to the
county auditor. The county auditor shall place the certified
amount on the real property tax list and duplicate against the
property served by the connection if he the auditor also receives
from the director or other official or body additional
certification that the unpaid rents or charges have arisen
pursuant to a service contract made directly with an owner who
occupies the property served.
The amount placed on the tax list and duplicate shall be a
lien on the property served from the date placed on the list and
duplicate and shall be collected in the same manner as other
taxes, except that, notwithstanding section 323.15 of the Revised
Code, a county treasurer shall accept a payment in such amount
when separately tendered as payment for the full amount of such
unpaid water rents or charges and associated penalties. The lien
shall be released immediately upon payment in full of the
certified amount. Any amounts collected by the county treasurer
under this division shall be immediately placed in the distinct
fund established by section 743.06 of the Revised Code.
(B)(2) Collect them by actions at law, in the name of the
city from an owner, tenant, or other person who is liable to pay
the rents or charges.
Each director or other official or body that assesses water
rents or charges shall determine the actual amount of rents due
based upon an actual reading of each customer's meter at least
once in each three-month period, and at least quarterly the
director or other official or body shall render a bill for the
actual amount shown by the meter reading to be due, except
estimated bills may be rendered if access to a customer's meter
was unobtainable for a timely reading. Each director or other
official or body that assesses water rents or charges shall
establish procedures providing fair and reasonable opportunity for
resolution of billing disputes.
When property to which water service is provided is about to
be sold, any party to the sale or his the agent of any such party
may request the director or other official or body to read the
meter at that property and to render within ten days following the
date on which the request is made, a final bill for all
outstanding rents and charges for water service. Such a request
shall be made at least fourteen days prior to the transfer of the
title of such property.
At any time prior to a certification under division (A) of
this section, the director or other official or body shall accept
any partial payment of unpaid water rents or charges, in the
amount of ten dollars or more.
(B)(1) When title to a parcel of land that is subject to any
of the actions described in division (A)(1) or (2) of this section
is transferred to a county land reutilization corporation, any
lien placed on the parcel under division (A)(1) of this section
shall be extinguished, and the corporation shall not be held
liable for unpaid rents or charges in any collection action
brought under division (A)(2) of this section, if the rents or
charges certified under division (A)(1) of this section or subject
to collection under division (A)(2) of this section were incurred
before the date of the transfer to the corporation and if the
corporation did not incur the rents or charges, regardless of
whether the rents or charges were certified, the lien was
attached, or the action was brought before the date of transfer.
In such a case, the corporation and its successors in title shall
take title to the property free and clear of any such lien and
shall be immune from liability in any such collection action.
If a county land reutilization corporation takes title to
property before any rents or charges have been certified or any
lien has been placed with respect to the property under division
(A)(1) or (2) of this section, the corporation shall be deemed a
bona fide purchaser for value without knowledge of such rents,
charges, or lien, regardless of whether the corporation had actual
or constructive knowledge of the rents, charges, or lien, and any
such lien shall be void and unenforceable against the corporation
and its successors in title.
(2) If a lien placed on a parcel is extinguished as provided
in division (B)(1) of this section, the municipal corporation may
pursue the remedy available under division (A)(2) of this section
to recoup the rents and charges incurred with respect to the
parcel from any owner, tenant, or other person liable to pay such
rents and charges.
Sec. 1724.02. In furtherance of the purposes set forth in
section 1724.01 of the Revised Code, a community improvement
corporation shall have the following powers:
(A)(1) To borrow money for any of the purposes of the
community improvement corporation by means of loans, lines of
credit, or any other financial instruments or securities,
including the issuance of its bonds, debentures, notes, or other
evidences of indebtedness, whether secured or unsecured, and to
secure the same by mortgage, pledge, deed of trust, or other lien
on its property, franchises, rights, and privileges of every kind
and nature or any part thereof or interest therein; and
(2) If the community improvement corporation is a county land
reutilization corporation, the corporation may request, by
resolution:
(a) That the board of county commissioners of the county
served by the corporation pledge a specifically identified source
or sources of revenue pursuant to division (C) of section 307.78
of the Revised Code as security for such borrowing by the
corporation; and
(b)(i) If the land subject to reutilization is located within
an unincorporated area of the county, that the board of county
commissioners issue notes under section 307.082 of the Revised
Code for the purpose of constructing public infrastructure
improvements and take other actions as the board determines are in
the interest of the county and are authorized under sections
5709.78 to 5709.81 of the Revised Code or bonds or notes under
section 5709.81 of the Revised Code for the refunding purposes set
forth in that section; or
(ii) If the land subject to reutilization is located within
the corporate boundaries of a municipal corporation, that the
municipal corporation issue bonds for the purpose of constructing
public infrastructure improvements and take such other actions as
the municipal corporation determines are in its interest and are
authorized under sections 5709.40 to 5709.43 of the Revised Code.
(B) To make loans to any person, firm, partnership,
corporation, joint stock company, association, or trust, and to
establish and regulate the terms and conditions with respect to
any such loans; provided that an economic development corporation
shall not approve any application for a loan unless and until the
person applying for said loan shows that the person has applied
for the loan through ordinary banking or commercial channels and
that the loan has been refused by at least one bank or other
financial institution. Nothing in this division shall preclude a
county land reutilization corporation from making revolving loans
to community development corporations, private entities, or any
person for the purposes contained in the corporation's plan under
section 1724.10 of the Revised Code.
(C) To purchase, receive, hold, manage, lease,
lease-purchase, or otherwise acquire and to sell, convey,
transfer, lease, sublease, or otherwise dispose of real and
personal property, together with such rights and privileges as may
be incidental and appurtenant thereto and the use thereof,
including but not restricted to, any real or personal property
acquired by the community improvement corporation from time to
time in the satisfaction of debts or enforcement of obligations,
and to enter into contracts with third parties, including the
federal government, the state, any political subdivision, or any
other entity. A county land reutilization corporation shall not
acquire an interest in real property if such acquisition causes
the percentage of unoccupied real property held by the corporation
to become less than seventy-five per cent of all real property
held by the corporation for reutilization, reclamation, or
rehabilitation. For the purposes of this division, "unoccupied"
has the same meaning as in section 323.65 of the Revised Code.
(D) To acquire the good will, business, rights, real and
personal property, and other assets, or any part thereof, or
interest therein, of any persons, firms, partnerships,
corporations, joint stock companies, associations, or trusts, and
to assume, undertake, or pay the obligations, debts, and
liabilities of any such person, firm, partnership, corporation,
joint stock company, association, or trust; to acquire, reclaim,
manage, or contract for the management of improved or unimproved
and underutilized real estate for the purpose of constructing
industrial plants, other business establishments, or housing
thereon, or causing the same to occur, for the purpose of
assembling and enhancing utilization of the real estate, or for
the purpose of disposing of such real estate to others in whole or
in part for the construction of industrial plants, other business
establishments, or housing; and to acquire, reclaim, manage,
contract for the management of, construct or reconstruct, alter,
repair, maintain, operate, sell, convey, transfer, lease,
sublease, or otherwise dispose of industrial plants, business
establishments, or housing.
(E) To acquire, subscribe for, own, hold, sell, assign,
transfer, mortgage, pledge, or otherwise dispose of the stock,
shares, bonds, debentures, notes, or other securities and
evidences of interest in, or indebtedness of, any person, firm,
corporation, joint stock company, association, or trust, and while
the owner or holder thereof, to exercise all the rights, powers,
and privileges of ownership, including the right to vote therein,
provided that no tax revenue, if any, received by a community
improvement corporation shall be used for such acquisition or
subscription.
(F) To mortgage, pledge, or otherwise encumber any property
acquired pursuant to the powers contained in divisions division
(C), (D), or (E) of this section.
(G) Nothing in this section shall limit the right of a
community improvement corporation to become a member of or a
stockholder in a corporation formed under Chapter 1726. of the
Revised Code.
(H) To serve as an agent for grant applications and for the
administration of grants, or to make applications as principal for
grants for county land reutilization corporations.
(I) To exercise the powers enumerated under Chapter 5722. of
the Revised Code on behalf of a county that organizes or contracts
with a county land reutilization corporation.
(J) To engage in code enforcement and nuisance abatement,
including, but not limited to, cutting grass and weeds, boarding
up vacant or abandoned structures, and demolishing condemned
structures on properties that are subject to a delinquent tax or
assessment lien, or property for which a municipal corporation or
township has contracted with a county land reutilization
corporation to provide code enforcement or nuisance abatement
assistance.
(K) To charge fees or exchange in-kind goods or services for
services rendered to political subdivisions and other persons or
entities for whom services are rendered.
(L) To employ and provide compensation for an executive
director who shall manage the operations of a county land
reutilization corporation and employ others for the benefit of the
corporation as approved and funded by the board of directors. No
employee of the corporation is or shall be deemed to be an
employee of the political subdivision for whose benefit the
corporation is organized solely because the employee is employed
by the corporation.
(M) To purchase tax certificates at auction, negotiated sale,
or from a third party who purchased and is a holder of one or more
tax certificates issued pursuant to sections 5721.30 to 5721.43 of
the Revised Code.
(N) To be assigned a mortgage on real property from a
mortgagee in lieu of acquiring such real property subject to a
mortgage.
(O) To do all acts and things necessary or convenient to
carry out the purposes of section 1724.01 of the Revised Code and
the powers especially created for a community improvement
corporation in Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code, including, but
not limited to, contracting with the federal government, the state
or any political subdivision, a board of county commissioners
pursuant to section 307.07 of the Revised Code, a county auditor
pursuant to section 319.10 of the Revised Code, a county treasurer
pursuant to section 321.49 of the Revised Code, and any other
party, whether nonprofit or for-profit. An employee of a board of
county commissioners, county auditor, or county treasurer who,
pursuant to a contract entered into in accordance with section
307.07, 319.10, or 321.49 of the Revised Code, provides services
to a county land reutilization corporation shall remain an
employee of the county during the provision of those services.
The powers enumerated in this chapter shall not be construed
to limit the general powers of a community improvement
corporation. The powers granted under this chapter are in addition
to those powers granted by any other chapter of the Revised Code,
but, as to a county land reutilization corporation, shall be used
only for the purposes enumerated under division (B)(2) of section
1724.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 1724.10. (A) A community improvement corporation may be
designated:
(1) By a county, one or more townships, one or more municipal
corporations, two or more adjoining counties, or any combination
of the foregoing as the agency of each such political subdivision
for the industrial, commercial, distribution, and research
development in such political subdivision when the legislative
authority of such political subdivision has determined that the
policy of the political subdivision is to promote the health,
safety, morals, and general welfare of its inhabitants through the
designation of a community improvement corporation as such agency;
(2) Solely by a county as the agency for the reclamation,
rehabilitation, and reutilization of vacant, abandoned,
tax-foreclosed, or other real property in the county;
(3) By any political subdivision as the agency for the
reclamation, rehabilitation, and reutilization of vacant,
abandoned, tax-foreclosed, or other real property within the
political subdivision if the subdivision enters into an agreement
with the community improvement corporation that is the agency of a
county, under division (A)(2) of this section, designating the
corporation as the agency of the political subdivision.
(B) Designations under this section shall be made by the
legislative authority of the political subdivision by resolution
or ordinance. Any political subdivision which has designated a
community improvement corporation as such agency under this
section may enter into an agreement with it to provide any one or
more of the following:
(1) That the community improvement corporation shall prepare
a plan for the political subdivision of industrial, commercial,
distribution, and research development, or of reclamation,
rehabilitation, and reutilization of vacant, abandoned,
tax-foreclosed, or other real property, and such plan shall
provide therein the extent to which the community improvement
corporation shall participate as the agency of the political
subdivision in carrying out such plan. Such plan shall be
confirmed by the legislative authority of the political
subdivision. A community improvement corporation may insure
mortgage payments required by a first mortgage on any industrial,
economic, commercial, or civic property for which funds have been
loaned by any person, corporation, bank, or financial or lending
institution upon such terms and conditions as the community
improvement corporation may prescribe. A community improvement
corporation may incur debt, mortgage its property acquired under
this section or otherwise, and issue its obligations, for the
purpose of acquiring, constructing, improving, and equipping
buildings, structures, and other properties, and acquiring sites
therefor, for lease or sale by the community improvement
corporation in order to carry out its participation in such plan.
Except as provided for in division (C) of section 307.78 of the
Revised Code, any such debt shall be solely that of the
corporation and shall not be secured by the pledge of any moneys
received or to be received from any political subdivision. All
revenue bonds issued under sections 1724.02 and 1724.10 of the
Revised Code are lawful investments of banks, savings and loan
associations, deposit guarantee associations, trust companies,
trustees, fiduciaries, trustees or other officers having charge of
sinking or bond retirement funds of municipal corporations and
other subdivisions of the state, and of domestic insurance
companies notwithstanding sections 3907.14 and 3925.08 of the
Revised Code. Not less than two-fifths of the governing board of
any economic development corporation designated as the agency of
one or more political subdivisions shall be composed of mayors,
members of municipal legislative authorities, members of boards of
township trustees, members of boards of county commissioners, or
any other appointed or elected officers of such political
subdivisions, provided that at least one officer from each
political subdivision shall be a member of the governing board.
Membership on the governing board of a community improvement
corporation does not constitute the holding of a public office or
employment within the meaning of sections 731.02 and 731.12 of the
Revised Code or any other section of the Revised Code. The board
of directors of a county land reutilization corporation shall be
composed of the members set forth in section 1724.03 of the
Revised Code. Membership on such governing boards shall not
constitute an interest, either direct or indirect, in a contract
or expenditure of money by any municipal corporation, township,
county, or other political subdivision. No member of such
governing boards shall be disqualified from holding any public
office or employment, nor shall such member forfeit any such
office or employment, by reason of membership on the governing
board of a community improvement corporation notwithstanding any
law to the contrary.
Actions taken under this section shall be in accordance with
any applicable planning or zoning regulations.
Any agreement entered into under this section may be amended
or supplemented from time to time by the parties thereto.
An economic development corporation designated as the agency
of a political subdivision under this section shall promote and
encourage the establishment and growth in such subdivision of
industrial, commercial, distribution, and research facilities. A
county land reutilization corporation designated as the agency of
a political subdivision in an agreement between a political
subdivision and a corporation shall promote the reclamation,
rehabilitation, and reutilization of vacant, abandoned,
tax-foreclosed, or other real property in the subdivision.
(2) Authorization for the community improvement corporation
to sell or to lease any lands or interests in lands owned by the
political subdivision determined from time to time by the
legislative authority thereof not to be required by such political
subdivision for its purposes, for uses determined by the
legislative authority as those that will promote the welfare of
the people of the political subdivision, stabilize the economy,
provide employment, assist in the development of industrial,
commercial, distribution, and research activities to the benefit
of the people of the political subdivision, will provide
additional opportunities for their gainful employment, or will
promote the reclamation, rehabilitation, and reutilization of
vacant, abandoned, tax-foreclosed, or other real property within
the subdivision. The legislative authority shall specify the
consideration for such sale or lease and any other terms thereof.
Any determinations made by the legislative authority under this
division shall be conclusive. The community improvement
corporation acting through its officers and on behalf and as agent
of the political subdivision shall execute the necessary
instruments, including deeds conveying the title of the political
subdivision or leases, to accomplish such sale or lease. Such
conveyance or lease shall be made without advertising and receipt
of bids. A copy of such agreement shall be recorded in the office
of the county recorder of any county in which lands or interests
in lands to be sold or leased are situated prior to the recording
of a deed or lease executed pursuant to such agreement.
The county
recorder shall not charge a county land reutilization corporation
a fee as otherwise provided in section 317.32 of the Revised Code
for the recording, indexing, or making of a certified copy or for
the filing of any instrument by a county land reutilization
corporation consistent with its public purposes.
(3) That the political subdivision executing the agreement
will convey to the community improvement corporation lands and
interests in lands owned by the political subdivision and
determined by the legislative authority thereof not to be required
by the political subdivision for its purposes and that such
conveyance of such land or interests in land will promote the
welfare of the people of the political subdivision, stabilize the
economy, provide employment, assist in the development of
industrial, commercial, distribution, and research activities to
the benefit of the people of the political subdivision, provide
additional opportunities for their gainful employment or will
promote the reclamation, rehabilitation, and reutilization of
vacant, abandoned, tax-foreclosed, or other real property in the
subdivision, for the consideration and upon the terms established
in the agreement, and further that as the agency for development
or land reutilization the community improvement corporation may
acquire from others additional lands or interests in lands, and
any lands or interests in land so conveyed by it for uses that
will promote the welfare of the people of the political
subdivision, stabilize the economy, provide employment, assist in
the development of industrial, commercial, distribution, and
research activities required for the people of the political
subdivision and for their gainful employment or will promote the
reclamation, rehabilitation, and reutilization of vacant,
abandoned, tax-foreclosed, or other real property in the
subdivision. Any conveyance or lease by the political subdivision
to the community improvement corporation shall be made without
advertising and receipt of bids. If any lands or interests in land
conveyed by a political subdivision under this division are sold
by the community improvement corporation at a price in excess of
the consideration received by the political subdivision from the
community improvement corporation, such excess shall be paid to
such political subdivision after deducting, to the extent and in
the manner provided in the agreement, the costs of such
acquisition and sale, taxes, assessments, costs of maintenance,
costs of improvements to the land by the community improvement
corporation, service fees, and any debt service charges of the
corporation attributable to such land or interests.
Sec. 2303.201. (A)(1) The court of common pleas of any
county may determine that for the efficient operation of the court
additional funds are required to computerize the court, to make
available computerized legal research services, or to do both.
Upon making a determination that additional funds are required for
either or both of those purposes, the court shall authorize and
direct the clerk of the court of common pleas to charge one
additional fee, not to exceed six dollars, on the filing of each
cause of action or appeal under divisions (A), (Q), and (U) of
section 2303.20 of the Revised Code.
(2) All fees collected under division (A)(1) of this section
shall be paid to the county treasurer. The treasurer shall place
the funds from the fees in a separate fund to be disbursed either
upon an order of the court, subject to an appropriation by the
board of county commissioners, or upon an order of the court,
subject to the court making an annual report available to the
public listing the use of all such funds, in an amount not greater
than the actual cost to the court of procuring and maintaining
computerization of the court, computerized legal research
services, or both.
(3) If the court determines that the funds in the fund
described in division (A)(2) of this section are more than
sufficient to satisfy the purpose for which the additional fee
described in division (A)(1) of this section was imposed, the
court may declare a surplus in the fund and, subject to an
appropriation by the board of county commissioners, expend those
surplus funds, or upon an order of the court, subject to the court
making an annual report available to the public listing the use of
all such funds, expend those surplus funds, for other appropriate
technological expenses of the court.
(B)(1) The court of common pleas of any county may determine
that, for the efficient operation of the court, additional funds
are required to make technological advances in or to computerize
the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas and, upon
that determination, authorize and direct the clerk of the court of
common pleas to charge an additional fee, not to exceed twenty
dollars, on the filing of each cause of action or appeal, on the
filing, docketing, and endorsing of each certificate of judgment,
or on the docketing and indexing of each aid in execution or
petition to vacate, revive, or modify a judgment under divisions
(A), (P), (Q), (T), and (U) of section 2303.20 of the Revised Code
and not to exceed one dollar each for the services described in
divisions (B), (C), (D), (F), (H), and (L) of section 2303.20 of
the Revised Code. Subject to division (B)(2) of this section, all
moneys collected under division (B)(1) of this section shall be
paid to the county treasurer to be disbursed, upon an order of the
court of common pleas and subject to appropriation by the board of
county commissioners, in an amount no greater than the actual cost
to the court of procuring and maintaining technology and computer
systems for the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas.
(2) If the court of common pleas of a county makes the
determination described in division (B)(1) of this section, the
board of county commissioners of that county may issue one or more
general obligation bonds for the purpose of procuring and
maintaining the technology and computer systems for the office of
the clerk of the court of common pleas. In addition to the
purposes stated in division (B)(1) of this section for which the
moneys collected under that division may be expended, the moneys
additionally may be expended to pay debt charges on and financing
costs related to any general obligation bonds issued pursuant to
division (B)(2) of this section as they become due. General
obligation bonds issued pursuant to division (B)(2) of this
section are Chapter 133. securities.
(C) The court of common pleas shall collect the sum of
twenty-six dollars as additional filing fees in each new civil
action or proceeding for the charitable public purpose of
providing financial assistance to legal aid societies that operate
within the state and to support the office of the state public
defender. This division does not apply to proceedings concerning
annulments, dissolutions of marriage, divorces, legal separation,
spousal support, marital property or separate property
distribution, support, or other domestic relations matters; to a
juvenile division of a court of common pleas; to a probate
division of a court of common pleas, except that the additional
filing fees shall apply to name change, guardianship, adoption,
and decedents' estate proceedings; or to an execution on a
judgment, proceeding in aid of execution, or other post-judgment
proceeding arising out of a civil action. The filing fees required
to be collected under this division shall be in addition to any
other filing fees imposed in the action or proceeding and shall be
collected at the time of the filing of the action or proceeding.
The court shall not waive the payment of the additional filing
fees in a new civil action or proceeding unless the court waives
the advanced payment of all filing fees in the action or
proceeding. All such moneys collected during a month except for an
amount equal to up to one per cent of those moneys retained to
cover administrative costs shall be transmitted on or before the
twentieth day of the following month by the clerk of the court to
the treasurer of state in a manner prescribed by the treasurer of
state or by the Ohio legal assistance foundation. The treasurer of
state shall deposit four per cent of the funds collected under
this division to the credit of the civil case filing fee fund
established under section 120.07 of the Revised Code and
ninety-six per cent of the funds collected under this division to
the credit of the legal aid fund established under section 120.52
of the Revised Code.
The court may retain up to one per cent of the moneys it
collects under this division to cover administrative costs,
including the hiring of any additional personnel necessary to
implement this division. If the court fails to transmit to the
treasurer of state the moneys the court collects under this
division in a manner prescribed by the treasurer of state or by
the Ohio legal assistance foundation, the court shall forfeit the
moneys the court retains under this division to cover
administrative costs, including the hiring of any additional
personnel necessary to implement this division, and shall transmit
to the treasurer of state all moneys collected under this
division, including the forfeited amount retained for
administrative costs, for deposit in the legal aid fund.
(D) On and after the thirtieth day after December 9, 1994,
the court of common pleas shall collect the sum of thirty-two
dollars as additional filing fees in each new action or proceeding
for annulment, divorce, or dissolution of marriage for the purpose
of funding shelters for victims of domestic violence pursuant to
sections 3113.35 to 3113.39 of the Revised Code. The filing fees
required to be collected under this division shall be in addition
to any other filing fees imposed in the action or proceeding and
shall be collected at the time of the filing of the action or
proceeding. The court shall not waive the payment of the
additional filing fees in a new action or proceeding for
annulment, divorce, or dissolution of marriage unless the court
waives the advanced payment of all filing fees in the action or
proceeding. On or before the twentieth day of each month, all
moneys collected during the immediately preceding month pursuant
to this division shall be deposited by the clerk of the court into
the county treasury in the special fund used for deposit of
additional marriage license fees as described in section 3113.34
of the Revised Code. Upon their deposit into the fund, the moneys
shall be retained in the fund and expended only as described in
section 3113.34 of the Revised Code.
(E)(1) The court of common pleas may determine that, for the
efficient operation of the court, additional funds are necessary
to acquire and pay for special projects of the court, including,
but not limited to, the acquisition of additional facilities or
the rehabilitation of existing facilities, the acquisition of
equipment, the hiring and training of staff, community service
programs, mediation or dispute resolution services, the employment
of magistrates, the training and education of judges, acting
judges, and magistrates, and other related services. Upon that
determination, the court by rule may charge a fee, in addition to
all other court costs, on the filing of each criminal cause, civil
action or proceeding, or judgment by confession.
If the court of common pleas offers or requires a special
program or additional services in cases of a specific type, the
court by rule may assess an additional charge in a case of that
type, over and above court costs, to cover the special program or
service. The court shall adjust the special assessment
periodically, but not retroactively, so that the amount assessed
in those cases does not exceed the actual cost of providing the
service or program.
All moneys collected under division (E) of this section shall
be paid to the county treasurer for deposit into either a general
special projects fund or a fund established for a specific special
project. Moneys from a fund of that nature shall be disbursed upon
an order of the court, subject to an appropriation by the board of
county commissioners, in an amount no greater than the actual cost
to the court of a project. If a specific fund is terminated
because of the discontinuance of a program or service established
under division (E) of this section, the court may order, subject
to an appropriation by the board of county commissioners, that
moneys remaining in the fund be transferred to an account
established under this division for a similar purpose.
(2) As used in division (E) of this section:
(a) "Criminal cause" means a charge alleging the violation of
a statute or ordinance, or subsection of a statute or ordinance,
that requires a separate finding of fact or a separate plea before
disposition and of which the defendant may be found guilty,
whether filed as part of a multiple charge on a single summons,
citation, or complaint or as a separate charge on a single
summons, citation, or complaint. "Criminal cause" does not include
separate violations of the same statute or ordinance, or
subsection of the same statute or ordinance, unless each charge is
filed on a separate summons, citation, or complaint.
(b) "Civil action or proceeding" means any civil litigation
that must be determined by judgment entry.
(F) The court of common pleas of a county in which a county
land reutilization corporation is organized under Chapter 1724. of
the Revised Code may collect an additional filing fee of up to
five hundred dollars in each new foreclosure proceeding, except
for tax foreclosure proceedings initiated under Chapter 323. or
5721. of the Revised Code, for the purpose of supporting the
county land reutilization corporation. Any filing fees collected
under this division shall be in addition to any other filing fees
collected at the time of the filing of the proceeding. On or
before the twentieth day of each month, all moneys collected
during the immediately preceding month pursuant to this division
shall be deposited by the clerk of the court into the county
treasury in the county land reutilization fund established under
section 321.263 of the Revised Code. The county land reutilization
corporation shall use all money deposited into the fund to perform
any of the activities the corporation is authorized to perform
under Chapter 1724. or division (D) of section 321.261 of the
Revised Code.
Sec. 2744.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Emergency call" means a call to duty, including, but not
limited to, communications from citizens, police dispatches, and
personal observations by peace officers of inherently dangerous
situations that demand an immediate response on the part of a
peace officer.
(B) "Employee" means an officer, agent, employee, or servant,
whether or not compensated or full-time or part-time, who is
authorized to act and is acting within the scope of the officer's,
agent's, employee's, or servant's employment for a political
subdivision. "Employee" does not include an independent contractor
and does not include any individual engaged by a school district
pursuant to section 3319.301 of the Revised Code. "Employee"
includes any elected or appointed official of a political
subdivision. "Employee" also includes a person who has been
convicted of or pleaded guilty to a criminal offense and who has
been sentenced to perform community service work in a political
subdivision whether pursuant to section 2951.02 of the Revised
Code or otherwise, and a child who is found to be a delinquent
child and who is ordered by a juvenile court pursuant to section
2152.19 or 2152.20 of the Revised Code to perform community
service or community work in a political subdivision.
(C)(1) "Governmental function" means a function of a
political subdivision that is specified in division (C)(2) of this
section or that satisfies any of the following:
(a) A function that is imposed upon the state as an
obligation of sovereignty and that is performed by a political
subdivision voluntarily or pursuant to legislative requirement;
(b) A function that is for the common good of all citizens of
the state;
(c) A function that promotes or preserves the public peace,
health, safety, or welfare; that involves activities that are not
engaged in or not customarily engaged in by nongovernmental
persons; and that is not specified in division (G)(2) of this
section as a proprietary function.
(2) A "governmental function" includes, but is not limited
to, the following:
(a) The provision or nonprovision of police, fire, emergency
medical, ambulance, and rescue services or protection;
(b) The power to preserve the peace; to prevent and suppress
riots, disturbances, and disorderly assemblages; to prevent,
mitigate, and clean up releases of oil and hazardous and extremely
hazardous substances as defined in section 3750.01 of the Revised
Code; and to protect persons and property;
(c) The provision of a system of public education;
(d) The provision of a free public library system;
(e) The regulation of the use of, and the maintenance and
repair of, roads, highways, streets, avenues, alleys, sidewalks,
bridges, aqueducts, viaducts, and public grounds;
(f) Judicial, quasi-judicial, prosecutorial, legislative, and
quasi-legislative functions;
(g) The construction, reconstruction, repair, renovation,
maintenance, and operation of buildings that are used in
connection with the performance of a governmental function,
including, but not limited to, office buildings and courthouses;
(h) The design, construction, reconstruction, renovation,
repair, maintenance, and operation of jails, places of juvenile
detention, workhouses, or any other detention facility, as defined
in section 2921.01 of the Revised Code;
(i) The enforcement or nonperformance of any law;
(j) The regulation of traffic, and the erection or
nonerection of traffic signs, signals, or control devices;
(k) The collection and disposal of solid wastes, as defined
in section 3734.01 of the Revised Code, including, but not limited
to, the operation of solid waste disposal facilities, as
"facilities" is defined in that section, and the collection and
management of hazardous waste generated by households. As used in
division (C)(2)(k) of this section, "hazardous waste generated by
households" means solid waste originally generated by individual
households that is listed specifically as hazardous waste in or
exhibits one or more characteristics of hazardous waste as defined
by rules adopted under section 3734.12 of the Revised Code, but
that is excluded from regulation as a hazardous waste by those
rules.
(l) The provision or nonprovision, planning or design,
construction, or reconstruction of a public improvement,
including, but not limited to, a sewer system;
(m) The operation of a job and family services department or
agency, including, but not limited to, the provision of assistance
to aged and infirm persons and to persons who are indigent;
(n) The operation of a health board, department, or agency,
including, but not limited to, any statutorily required or
permissive program for the provision of immunizations or other
inoculations to all or some members of the public, provided that a
"governmental function" does not include the supply, manufacture,
distribution, or development of any drug or vaccine employed in
any such immunization or inoculation program by any supplier,
manufacturer, distributor, or developer of the drug or vaccine;
(o) The operation of mental health facilities, mental
retardation or developmental disabilities facilities, alcohol
treatment and control centers, and children's homes or agencies;
(p) The provision or nonprovision of inspection services of
all types, including, but not limited to, inspections in
connection with building, zoning, sanitation, fire, plumbing, and
electrical codes, and the taking of actions in connection with
those types of codes, including, but not limited to, the approval
of plans for the construction of buildings or structures and the
issuance or revocation of building permits or stop work orders in
connection with buildings or structures;
(q) Urban renewal projects and the elimination of slum
conditions, including the performance of any activity that a
county land reutilization corporation is authorized to perform
under Chapter 1724. or 5722. of the Revised Code;
(r) Flood control measures;
(s) The design, construction, reconstruction, renovation,
operation, care, repair, and maintenance of a township cemetery;
(t) The issuance of revenue obligations under section 140.06
of the Revised Code;
(u) The design, construction, reconstruction, renovation,
repair, maintenance, and operation of any school athletic
facility, school auditorium, or gymnasium or any recreational area
or facility, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(i) A park, playground, or playfield;
(ii) An indoor recreational facility;
(iii) A zoo or zoological park;
(iv) A bath, swimming pool, pond, water park, wading pool,
wave pool, water slide, or other type of aquatic facility;
(vi) A bicycle motocross facility or other type of
recreational area or facility in which bicycling, skating, skate
boarding, or scooter riding is engaged;
(vii) A rope course or climbing walls;
(viii) An all-purpose vehicle facility in which all-purpose
vehicles, as defined in section 4519.01 of the Revised Code, are
contained, maintained, or operated for recreational activities.
(v) The provision of public defender services by a county or
joint county public defender's office pursuant to Chapter 120. of
the Revised Code;
(w)(i) At any time before regulations prescribed pursuant to
49 U.S.C.A 20153 become effective, the designation, establishment,
design, construction, implementation, operation, repair, or
maintenance of a public road rail crossing in a zone within a
municipal corporation in which, by ordinance, the legislative
authority of the municipal corporation regulates the sounding of
locomotive horns, whistles, or bells;
(ii) On and after the effective date of regulations
prescribed pursuant to 49 U.S.C.A. 20153, the designation,
establishment, design, construction, implementation, operation,
repair, or maintenance of a public road rail crossing in such a
zone or of a supplementary safety measure, as defined in 49
U.S.C.A 20153, at or for a public road rail crossing, if and to
the extent that the public road rail crossing is excepted,
pursuant to subsection (c) of that section, from the requirement
of the regulations prescribed under subsection (b) of that
section.
(x) A function that the general assembly mandates a political
subdivision to perform.
(D) "Law" means any provision of the constitution, statutes,
or rules of the United States or of this state; provisions of
charters, ordinances, resolutions, and rules of political
subdivisions; and written policies adopted by boards of education.
When used in connection with the "common law," this definition
does not apply.
(E) "Motor vehicle" has the same meaning as in section
4511.01 of the Revised Code.
(F) "Political subdivision" or "subdivision" means a
municipal corporation, township, county, school district, or other
body corporate and politic responsible for governmental activities
in a geographic area smaller than that of the state. "Political
subdivision" includes, but is not limited to, a county hospital
commission appointed under section 339.14 of the Revised Code,
board of hospital commissioners appointed for a municipal hospital
under section 749.04 of the Revised Code, board of hospital
trustees appointed for a municipal hospital under section 749.22
of the Revised Code, regional planning commission created pursuant
to section 713.21 of the Revised Code, county planning commission
created pursuant to section 713.22 of the Revised Code, joint
planning council created pursuant to section 713.231 of the
Revised Code, interstate regional planning commission created
pursuant to section 713.30 of the Revised Code, port authority
created pursuant to section 4582.02 or 4582.26 of the Revised Code
or in existence on December 16, 1964, regional council established
by political subdivisions pursuant to Chapter 167. of the Revised
Code, emergency planning district and joint emergency planning
district designated under section 3750.03 of the Revised Code,
joint emergency medical services district created pursuant to
section 307.052 of the Revised Code, fire and ambulance district
created pursuant to section 505.375 of the Revised Code, joint
interstate emergency planning district established by an agreement
entered into under that section, county solid waste management
district and joint solid waste management district established
under section 343.01 or 343.012 of the Revised Code, community
school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, county
land reutilization corporation organized under Chapter 1724. of
the Revised Code, the county or counties served by a
community-based correctional facility and program or district
community-based correctional facility and program established and
operated under sections 2301.51 to 2301.58 of the Revised Code, a
community-based correctional facility and program or district
community-based correctional facility and program that is so
established and operated, and the facility governing board of a
community-based correctional facility and program or district
community-based correctional facility and program that is so
established and operated.
(G)(1) "Proprietary function" means a function of a political
subdivision that is specified in division (G)(2) of this section
or that satisfies both of the following:
(a) The function is not one described in division (C)(1)(a)
or (b) of this section and is not one specified in division (C)(2)
of this section;
(b) The function is one that promotes or preserves the public
peace, health, safety, or welfare and that involves activities
that are customarily engaged in by nongovernmental persons.
(2) A "proprietary function" includes, but is not limited to,
the following:
(a) The operation of a hospital by one or more political
subdivisions;
(b) The design, construction, reconstruction, renovation,
repair, maintenance, and operation of a public cemetery other than
a township cemetery;
(c) The establishment, maintenance, and operation of a
utility, including, but not limited to, a light, gas, power, or
heat plant, a railroad, a busline or other transit company, an
airport, and a municipal corporation water supply system;
(d) The maintenance, destruction, operation, and upkeep of a
sewer system;
(e) The operation and control of a public stadium,
auditorium, civic or social center, exhibition hall, arts and
crafts center, band or orchestra, or off-street parking facility.
(H) "Public roads" means public roads, highways, streets,
avenues, alleys, and bridges within a political subdivision.
"Public roads" does not include berms, shoulders, rights-of-way,
or traffic control devices unless the traffic control devices are
mandated by the Ohio manual of uniform traffic control devices.
(I) "State" means the state of Ohio, including, but not
limited to, the general assembly, the supreme court, the offices
of all elected state officers, and all departments, boards,
offices, commissions, agencies, colleges and universities,
institutions, and other instrumentalities of the state of Ohio.
"State" does not include political subdivisions.
Sec. 5709.12. (A) As used in this section, "independent
living facilities" means any residential housing facilities and
related property that are not a nursing home, residential care
facility, or residential facility as defined in division (A) of
section 5701.13 of the Revised Code.
(B) Lands, houses, and other buildings belonging to a county,
township, or municipal corporation and used exclusively for the
accommodation or support of the poor, or leased to the state or
any political subdivision for public purposes shall be exempt from
taxation. Real and tangible personal property belonging to
institutions that is used exclusively for charitable purposes
shall be exempt from taxation, including real property belonging
to an institution that is a nonprofit corporation that receives a
grant under the Thomas Alva Edison grant program authorized by
division (C) of section 122.33 of the Revised Code at any time
during the tax year and being held for leasing or resale to
others. If, at any time during a tax year for which such property
is exempted from taxation, the corporation ceases to qualify for
such a grant, the director of development shall notify the tax
commissioner, and the tax commissioner shall cause the property to
be restored to the tax list beginning with the following tax year.
All property owned and used by a nonprofit organization
exclusively for a home for the aged, as defined in section 5701.13
of the Revised Code, also shall be exempt from taxation.
(C)(1) If a home for the aged described in division (B)(1) of
section 5701.13 of the Revised Code is operated in conjunction
with or at the same site as independent living facilities, the
exemption granted in division (B) of this section shall include
kitchen, dining room, clinic, entry ways, maintenance and storage
areas, and land necessary for access commonly used by both
residents of the home for the aged and residents of the
independent living facilities. Other facilities commonly used by
both residents of the home for the aged and residents of
independent living units shall be exempt from taxation only if the
other facilities are used primarily by the residents of the home
for the aged. Vacant land currently unused by the home, and
independent living facilities and the lands connected with them
are not exempt from taxation. Except as provided in division
(A)(1) of section 5709.121 of the Revised Code, property of a home
leased for nonresidential purposes is not exempt from taxation.
(2) Independent living facilities are exempt from taxation if
they are operated in conjunction with or at the same site as a
home for the aged described in division (B)(2) of section 5701.13
of the Revised Code; operated by a corporation, association, or
trust described in division (B)(1)(b) of that section; operated
exclusively for the benefit of members of the corporation,
association, or trust who are retired, aged, or infirm; and
provided to those members without charge in consideration of their
service, without compensation, to a charitable, religious,
fraternal, or educational institution. For the purposes of
division (C)(2) of this section, "compensation" does not include
furnishing room and board, clothing, health care, or other
necessities, or stipends or other de minimis payments to defray
the cost thereof.
(D)(1) A private corporation established under federal law,
as defined in 36 U.S.C. 1101, Pub. L. No. 102-199, 105 Stat. 1629,
as amended, the objects of which include encouraging the
advancement of science generally, or of a particular branch of
science, the promotion of scientific research, the improvement of
the qualifications and usefulness of scientists, or the increase
and diffusion of scientific knowledge is conclusively presumed to
be a charitable or educational institution. A private corporation
established as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of a state,
that is exempt from federal income taxation under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 100 Stat. 2085, 26
U.S.C.A. 1, as amended, and that has as its principal purpose one
or more of the foregoing objects, also is conclusively presumed to
be a charitable or educational institution.
The fact that an organization described in this division
operates in a manner that results in an excess of revenues over
expenses shall not be used to deny the exemption granted by this
section, provided such excess is used, or is held for use, for
exempt purposes or to establish a reserve against future
contingencies; and, provided further, that such excess may not be
distributed to individual persons or to entities that would not be
entitled to the tax exemptions provided by this chapter. Nor shall
the fact that any scientific information diffused by the
organization is of particular interest or benefit to any of its
individual members be used to deny the exemption granted by this
section, provided that such scientific information is available to
the public for purchase or otherwise.
(2) Division (D)(2) of this section does not apply to real
property exempted from taxation under this section and division
(A)(3) of section 5709.121 of the Revised Code and belonging to a
nonprofit corporation described in division (D)(1) of this section
that has received a grant under the Thomas Alva Edison grant
program authorized by division (C) of section 122.33 of the
Revised Code during any of the tax years the property was exempted
from taxation.
When a private corporation described in division (D)(1) of
this section sells all or any portion of a tract, lot, or parcel
of real estate that has been exempt from taxation under this
section and section 5709.121 of the Revised Code, the portion sold
shall be restored to the tax list for the year following the year
of the sale and, except in connection with a sale and transfer of
such a tract, lot, or parcel to a county land reutilization
corporation organized under Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code, a
charge shall be levied against the sold property in an amount
equal to the tax savings on such property during the four tax
years preceding the year the property is placed on the tax list.
The tax savings equals the amount of the additional taxes that
would have been levied if such property had not been exempt from
taxation.
The charge constitutes a lien of the state upon such property
as of the first day of January of the tax year in which the charge
is levied and continues until discharged as provided by law. The
charge may also be remitted for all or any portion of such
property that the tax commissioner determines is entitled to
exemption from real property taxation for the year such property
is restored to the tax list under any provision of the Revised
Code, other than sections 725.02, 1728.10, 3735.67, 5709.40,
5709.41, 5709.62, 5709.63, 5709.71, 5709.73, 5709.78, and 5709.84,
upon an application for exemption covering the year such property
is restored to the tax list filed under section 5715.27 of the
Revised Code.
(E) Real property held by an organization organized and
operated exclusively for charitable purposes as described under
section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and exempt from
federal taxation under section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue
Code, 26 U.S.C.A. 501(a) and (c)(3), as amended, for the purpose
of constructing or rehabilitating residences for eventual transfer
to qualified low-income families through sale, lease, or land
installment contract, shall be exempt from taxation.
The exemption shall commence on the day title to the property
is transferred to the organization and shall continue to the end
of the tax year in which the organization transfers title to the
property to a qualified low-income family. In no case shall the
exemption extend beyond the second succeeding tax year following
the year in which the title was transferred to the organization.
If the title is transferred to the organization and from the
organization to a qualified low-income family in the same tax
year, the exemption shall continue to the end of that tax year.
The proportionate amount of taxes that are a lien but not yet
determined, assessed, and levied for the tax year in which title
is transferred to the organization shall be remitted by the county
auditor for each day of the year that title is held by the
organization.
Upon transferring the title to another person, the
organization shall file with the county auditor an affidavit
affirming that the title was transferred to a qualified low-income
family or that the title was not transferred to a qualified
low-income family, as the case may be; if the title was
transferred to a qualified low-income family, the affidavit shall
identify the transferee by name. If the organization transfers
title to the property to anyone other than a qualified low-income
family, the exemption, if it has not previously expired, shall
terminate, and the property shall be restored to the tax list for
the year following the year of the transfer and a charge shall be
levied against the property in an amount equal to the amount of
additional taxes that would have been levied if such property had
not been exempt from taxation. The charge constitutes a lien of
the state upon such property as of the first day of January of the
tax year in which the charge is levied and continues until
discharged as provided by law.
The application for exemption shall be filed as otherwise
required under section 5715.27 of the Revised Code, except that
the organization holding the property shall file with its
application documentation substantiating its status as an
organization organized and operated exclusively for charitable
purposes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and
its qualification for exemption from federal taxation under
section 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, and affirming its
intention to construct or rehabilitate the property for the
eventual transfer to qualified low-income families.
As used in this division, "qualified low-income family" means
a family whose income does not exceed two hundred per cent of the
official federal poverty guidelines as revised annually in
accordance with section 673(2) of the "Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1981," 95 Stat. 511, 42 U.S.C.A. 9902, as
amended, for a family size equal to the size of the family whose
income is being determined.
(F)(1)(a) Real property held by a county land reutilization
corporation organized under Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code
shall be exempt from taxation. Notwithstanding section 5715.27 of
the Revised Code, a county land reutilization corporation is not
required to apply to any county or state agency in order to
qualify for the exemption.
(b) Real property acquired or held by an electing subdivision
other than a county land reutilization corporation on or after
April 9, 2009, for the purpose of implementing an effective land
reutilization program or for a related public purpose shall be
exempt from taxation until sold or transferred by the electing
subdivision. Notwithstanding section 5715.27 of the Revised Code,
an electing subdivision is not required to apply to any county or
state agency in order to qualify for an exemption with respect to
property acquired or held for such purposes on or after such date,
regardless of how the electing subdivision acquires the property.
As used in this section, "electing subdivision" and "land
reutilization program" have the same meanings as in section
5722.01 of the Revised Code, and "county land reutilization
corporation" means a county land reutilization corporation
organized under Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code and any
subsidiary wholly owned by such a county land reutilization
corporation.
The (2) An exemption authorized under division (F)(1) of this
section shall commence on the day title to the property is
transferred to the corporation or electing subdivision and shall
continue to the end of the tax year in which the instrument
transferring title from the corporation or subdivision to another
owner is recorded, if the use to which the other owner puts the
property does not qualify for an exemption under this section or
any other section of the Revised Code. If the title to the
property is transferred to the corporation and from the
corporation, or to the subdivision and from the subdivision, in
the same tax year, the exemption shall continue to the end of that
tax year. The proportionate amount of taxes that are a lien but
not yet determined, assessed, and levied for the tax year in which
title is transferred to the corporation or subdivision shall be
remitted by the county auditor for each day of the year that title
is held by the corporation or subdivision.
Upon transferring the title to another person, the
corporation or electing subdivision shall file with the county
auditor an affidavit or conveyance form affirming that the title
was transferred to such other person and shall identify the
transferee by name. If the corporation or subdivision transfers
title to the property to anyone that does not qualify or the use
to which the property is put does not qualify the property for an
exemption under this section or any other section of the Revised
Code, the exemption, if it has not previously expired, shall
terminate, and the property shall be restored to the tax list for
the year following the year of the transfer. A charge shall be
levied against the property in an amount equal to the amount of
additional taxes that would have been levied if such property had
not been exempt from taxation. The charge constitutes a lien of
the state upon such property as of the first day of January of the
tax year in which the charge is levied and continues until
discharged as provided by law.
In lieu of the application for exemption otherwise required
to be filed as required under section 5715.27 of the Revised Code,
a count county land reutilization corporation holding the property
shall, upon the request of any county or state agency, submit its
articles of incorporation substantiating its status as a county
land reutilization corporation.
Sec. 5721.01. (A) As used in this chapter:
(1) "Delinquent lands" means all lands, including lands that
are unimproved by any dwelling, upon which delinquent taxes, as
defined in section 323.01 of the Revised Code, remain unpaid at
the time a settlement is made between the county treasurer and
auditor pursuant to division (C) of section 321.24 of the Revised
Code.
(2) "Delinquent vacant lands" means all lands that have been
delinquent lands for at least one year and that are unimproved by
any dwelling.
(3) "County land reutilization corporation" means a county
land reutilization corporation organized under Chapter 1724. of
the Revised Code.
(B) As used in sections 5719.04, 5721.03, and 5721.31 of the
Revised Code and in any other sections of the Revised Code to
which those sections are applicable, a "newspaper" or "newspaper
of general circulation" has the same meaning as in section 7.12 of
the Revised Code.
Sec. 5721.03. (A) At the time of making the delinquent land
list, as provided in section 5721.011 of the Revised Code, the
county auditor shall compile a delinquent tax list consisting of
all lands on the delinquent land list on which taxes have become
delinquent at the close of the collection period immediately
preceding the making of the delinquent land list. The auditor
shall also compile a delinquent vacant land tax list of all
delinquent vacant lands prior to the institution of any
foreclosure and forfeiture actions against delinquent vacant lands
under section 5721.14 of the Revised Code or any foreclosure
actions against delinquent vacant lands under section 5721.18 of
the Revised Code.
The delinquent tax list, and the delinquent vacant land tax
list if one is compiled, shall contain all of the information
included on the delinquent land list, except that, if the
auditor's records show that the name of the person in whose name
the property currently is listed is not the name that appears on
the delinquent land list, the name used in the delinquent tax list
or the delinquent vacant land tax list shall be the name of the
person the auditor's records show as the person in whose name the
property currently is listed.
Lands that have been included in a previously published
delinquent tax list shall not be included in the delinquent tax
list so long as taxes have remained delinquent on such lands for
the entire intervening time.
In either list, there may be included lands that have been
omitted in error from a prior list and lands with respect to which
the auditor has received a certification that a delinquent tax
contract has become void since the publication of the last
previously published list, provided the name of the owner was
stricken from a prior list under section 5721.02 of the Revised
Code.
(B)(1) The auditor shall cause the delinquent tax list and
the delinquent vacant land tax list, if one is compiled, to be
published twice within sixty days after the delivery of the
delinquent land duplicate to the county treasurer, in a newspaper
of general circulation in the county. The newspaper shall meet the
requirements of section 7.12 of the Revised Code. The auditor may
publish the list or lists on a pre-printed preprinted insert in
the newspaper. The cost of the second publication of the list or
lists shall not exceed three-fourths of the cost of the first
publication of the list or lists.
The auditor shall insert display notices of the forthcoming
publication of the delinquent tax list and, if it is to be
published, the delinquent vacant land tax list once a week for two
consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county. The display notices shall contain the times and methods of
payment of taxes provided by law, including information concerning
installment payments made in accordance with a written delinquent
tax contract. The display notice for the delinquent tax list also
shall include a notice that an interest charge will accrue on
accounts remaining unpaid after the last day of November unless
the taxpayer enters into a written delinquent tax contract to pay
such taxes in installments. The display notice for the delinquent
vacant land tax list if it is to be published also shall include a
notice that delinquent vacant lands in the list are lands on which
taxes have remained unpaid for one year after being certified
delinquent, and that they are subject to foreclosure proceedings
as provided in section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or
section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, or foreclosure and forfeiture
proceedings as provided in section 5721.14 of the Revised Code.
Each display notice also shall state that the lands are subject to
a tax certificate sale under section 5721.32 or 5721.33 of the
Revised Code or assignment to a county land reutilization
corporation, as the case may be, and shall include any other
information that the auditor considers pertinent to the purpose of
the notice. The display notices shall be furnished by the auditor
to the newspaper selected to publish the lists at least ten days
before their first publication.
(2) Publication of the list or lists may be made by a
newspaper in installments, provided the complete publication of
each list is made twice during the sixty-day period.
(3) There shall be attached to the delinquent tax list a
notice that the delinquent lands will be certified for foreclosure
by the auditor unless the taxes, assessments, interest, and
penalties due and owing on them are paid. There shall be attached
to the delinquent vacant land tax list, if it is to be published,
a notice that delinquent vacant lands will be certified for
foreclosure or foreclosure and forfeiture by the auditor unless
the taxes, assessments, interest, and penalties due and owing on
them are paid within twenty-eight days after the final publication
of the notice.
(4) The auditor shall review the first publication of each
list for accuracy and completeness and may correct any errors
appearing in the list in the second publication.
(5) Nothing in this section prohibits a foreclosure action
from being brought against a parcel of land under section 323.25,
sections 323.65 to 323.79, or section 5721.18 of the Revised Code
before the delinquent tax list or delinquent vacant land tax list
that includes the parcel is published pursuant to division (B)(1)
of this section if the list is not published within the time
prescribed by that division.
(C) For the purposes of section 5721.18 of the Revised Code,
land is first certified delinquent on the date of the
certification of the delinquent land list containing that land.
Sec. 5721.14. Subject to division (A)(2) of this section, on
receipt of a delinquent vacant land tax certificate or a master
list of delinquent vacant tracts, a county prosecuting attorney
shall institute a foreclosure proceeding under section 323.25,
sections 323.65 to 323.79, or section 5721.18 of the Revised Code,
or a foreclosure and forfeiture proceeding under this section. If
the delinquent vacant land tax certificate or a master list of
delinquent vacant tracts lists minerals or rights to minerals
listed pursuant to sections 5713.04, 5713.05, and 5713.06 of the
Revised Code, the county prosecuting attorney may institute a
foreclosure proceeding under section 323.25, sections 323.65 to
323.79, or section 5721.18 of the Revised Code or a foreclosure
and forfeiture proceeding under this section against such minerals
or rights to minerals.
(A)(1) The prosecuting attorney shall institute a proceeding
under this section by filing, in the name of the county treasurer
and with the clerk of a court with jurisdiction, a complaint that
requests that the lien of the state on the property identified in
the certificate or master list be foreclosed and that the property
be forfeited to the state. The prosecuting attorney shall
prosecute the proceeding to final judgment and satisfaction.
(2) If the delinquent taxes, assessments, charges, penalties,
and interest are paid prior to the time a complaint is filed, the
prosecuting attorney shall not institute a proceeding under this
section. If there is a copy of a written delinquent tax contract
attached to the certificate or an asterisk next to an entry on the
master list, or if a copy of a delinquent tax contract is received
from the county auditor prior to the commencement of the
proceeding under this section, the prosecuting attorney shall not
institute the proceeding under this section unless the prosecuting
attorney receives a certification of the county treasurer that the
delinquent tax contract has become void.
(B) Foreclosure and forfeiture proceedings instituted under
this section constitute an action in rem. Prior to filing such an
action in rem, the county prosecuting attorney shall cause a title
search to be conducted for the purpose of identifying any
lienholders or other persons with interests in the property that
is subject to foreclosure and forfeiture. Following the title
search, the action in rem shall be instituted by filing in the
office of the clerk of a court with jurisdiction a complaint
bearing a caption substantially in the form set forth in division
(A) of section 5721.15 of the Revised Code.
Any number of parcels may be joined in one action. Each
separate parcel included in a complaint shall be given a serial
number and shall be separately indexed and docketed by the clerk
of the court in a book kept by the clerk for such purpose. A
complaint shall contain the permanent parcel number of each parcel
included in it, the full street address of the parcel when
available, a description of the parcel as set forth in the
certificate or master list, the name and address of the last known
owner of the parcel if they appear on the general tax list, the
name and address of each lienholder and other person with an
interest in the parcel identified in the title search relating to
the parcel that is required by this division, and the amount of
taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and interest due and
unpaid with respect to the parcel. It is sufficient for the county
treasurer to allege in the complaint that the certificate or
master list has been duly filed by the county auditor with respect
to each parcel listed, that the amount of money with respect to
each parcel appearing to be due and unpaid is due and unpaid, and
that there is a lien against each parcel, without setting forth
any other or special matters. The prayer of the complaint shall be
that the court issue an order that the lien of the state on each
of the parcels included in the complaint be foreclosed, that the
property be forfeited to the state, and that the land be offered
for sale in the manner provided in section 5723.06 of the Revised
Code.
(C) Within thirty days after the filing of a complaint, the
clerk of the court in which the complaint was filed shall cause a
notice of foreclosure and forfeiture substantially in the form of
the notice set forth in division (B) of section 5721.15 of the
Revised Code to be published once a week for three consecutive
weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. In any
county that has adopted a permanent parcel number system, the
parcel may be described in the notice by parcel number only,
instead of also with a complete legal description, if the county
prosecuting attorney determines that the publication of the
complete legal description is not necessary to provide reasonable
notice of the foreclosure and forfeiture proceeding to the
interested parties. If the complete legal description is not
published, the notice shall indicate where the complete legal
description may be obtained.
After the third publication, the publisher shall file with
the clerk of the court an affidavit stating the fact of the
publication and including a copy of the notice of foreclosure and
forfeiture as published. Service of process for purposes of the
action in rem shall be considered as complete on the date of the
last publication.
Within thirty days after the filing of a complaint and before
the date of the final publication of the notice of foreclosure and
forfeiture, the clerk of the court also shall cause a copy of a
notice substantially in the form of the notice set forth in
division (C) of section 5721.15 of the Revised Code to be mailed
by ordinary mail, with postage prepaid, to each person named in
the complaint as being the last known owner of a parcel included
in it, or as being a lienholder or other person with an interest
in a parcel included in it. The notice shall be sent to the
address of each such person, as set forth in the complaint, and
the clerk shall enter the fact of such mailing upon the appearance
docket. If the name and address of the last known owner of a
parcel included in a complaint is not set forth in it, the county
auditor shall file an affidavit with the clerk stating that the
name and address of the last known owner does not appear on the
general tax list.
(D)(1) An answer may be filed in a foreclosure and forfeiture
proceeding by any person owning or claiming any right, title, or
interest in, or lien upon, any parcel described in the complaint.
The answer shall contain the caption and number of the action and
the serial number of the parcel concerned. The answer shall set
forth the nature and amount of interest claimed in the parcel and
any defense or objection to the foreclosure of the lien of the
state for delinquent taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and
interest, as shown in the complaint. The answer shall be filed in
the office of the clerk of the court, and a copy of the answer
shall be served on the county prosecuting attorney not later than
twenty-eight days after the date of final publication of the
notice of foreclosure and forfeiture. If an answer is not filed
within such time, a default judgment may be taken as to any parcel
included in a complaint as to which no answer has been filed. A
default judgment is valid and effective with respect to all
persons owning or claiming any right, title, or interest in, or
lien upon, any such parcel, notwithstanding that one or more of
such persons are minors, incompetents, absentees or nonresidents
of the state, or convicts in confinement.
(2)(a) A receiver appointed pursuant to divisions (C)(2) and
(3) of section 3767.41 of the Revised Code may file an answer
pursuant to division (D)(1) of this section, but is not required
to do so as a condition of receiving proceeds in a distribution
under division (B)(2) of section 5721.17 of the Revised Code.
(b) When a receivership under section 3767.41 of the Revised
Code is associated with a parcel, the notice of foreclosure and
forfeiture set forth in division (B) of section 5721.15 of the
Revised Code and the notice set forth in division (C) of that
section shall be modified to reflect the provisions of division
(D)(2)(a) of this section.
(E) At the trial of a foreclosure and forfeiture proceeding,
the delinquent vacant land tax certificate or master list of
delinquent vacant tracts filed by the county auditor with the
county prosecuting attorney shall be prima-facie evidence of the
amount and validity of the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties,
and interest appearing due and unpaid on the parcel to which the
certificate or master list relates and their nonpayment. If an
answer is properly filed, the court may, in its discretion, and
shall, at the request of the person filing the answer, grant a
severance of the proceedings as to any parcel described in such
answer for purposes of trial or appeal.
(F) The conveyance by the owner of any parcel against which a
complaint has been filed pursuant to this section at any time
after the date of publication of the parcel on the delinquent
vacant land tax list but before the date of a judgment of
foreclosure and forfeiture pursuant to section 5721.16 of the
Revised Code shall not nullify the right of the county to proceed
with the foreclosure and forfeiture.
Sec. 5721.18. The county prosecuting attorney, upon the
delivery to the prosecuting attorney by the county auditor of a
delinquent land or delinquent vacant land tax certificate, or of a
master list of delinquent or delinquent vacant tracts, shall
institute a foreclosure proceeding under this section in the name
of the county treasurer to foreclose the lien of the state, in any
court with jurisdiction or in the county board of revision with
jurisdiction pursuant to section 323.66 of the Revised Code,
unless the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and interest
are paid prior to the time a complaint is filed, or unless a
foreclosure or foreclosure and forfeiture action has been or will
be instituted under section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or
section 5721.14 of the Revised Code. If the delinquent land or
delinquent vacant land tax certificate or the master list of
delinquent or delinquent vacant tracts lists minerals or rights to
minerals listed pursuant to sections 5713.04, 5713.05, and 5713.06
of the Revised Code, the county prosecuting attorney may institute
a foreclosure proceeding in the name of the county treasurer, in
any court with jurisdiction, to foreclose the lien of the state
against such minerals or rights to minerals, unless the taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, and interest are paid prior to
the time the complaint is filed, or unless a foreclosure or
foreclosure and forfeiture action has been or will be instituted
under section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or section
5721.14 of the Revised Code.
Nothing in this section or section 5721.03 of the Revised
Code prohibits the prosecuting attorney from instituting a
proceeding under this section before the delinquent tax list or
delinquent vacant land tax list that includes the parcel is
published pursuant to division (B) of section 5721.03 of the
Revised Code if the list is not published within the time
prescribed by that division. The prosecuting attorney shall
prosecute the proceeding to final judgment and satisfaction.
Within ten days after obtaining a judgment, the prosecuting
attorney shall notify the treasurer in writing that judgment has
been rendered. If there is a copy of a written delinquent tax
contract attached to the certificate or an asterisk next to an
entry on the master list, or if a copy of a delinquent tax
contract is received from the auditor prior to the commencement of
the proceeding under this section, the prosecuting attorney shall
not institute the proceeding under this section, unless the
prosecuting attorney receives a certification of the treasurer
that the delinquent tax contract has become void.
(A) This division applies to all foreclosure proceedings not
instituted and prosecuted under section 323.25 of the Revised Code
or division (B) or (C) of this section. The foreclosure
proceedings shall be instituted and prosecuted in the same manner
as is provided by law for the foreclosure of mortgages on land,
except that, if service by publication is necessary, such
publication shall be made once a week for three consecutive weeks
instead of as provided by the Rules of Civil Procedure, and the
service shall be complete at the expiration of three weeks after
the date of the first publication. In any proceeding prosecuted
under this section, if the prosecuting attorney determines that
service upon a defendant may be obtained ultimately only by
publication, the prosecuting attorney may cause service to be made
simultaneously by certified mail, return receipt requested,
ordinary mail, and publication.
In any county that has adopted a permanent parcel number
system, the parcel may be described in the notice by parcel number
only, instead of also with a complete legal description, if the
prosecuting attorney determines that the publication of the
complete legal description is not necessary to provide reasonable
notice of the foreclosure proceeding to the interested parties. If
the complete legal description is not published, the notice shall
indicate where the complete legal description may be obtained.
It is sufficient, having been made a proper party to the
foreclosure proceeding, for the treasurer to allege in the
treasurer's complaint that the certificate or master list has been
duly filed by the auditor, that the amount of money appearing to
be due and unpaid is due and unpaid, and that there is a lien
against the property described in the certificate or master list,
without setting forth in the complaint any other or special matter
relating to the foreclosure proceeding. The prayer of the
complaint shall be that the court or the county board of revision
with jurisdiction pursuant to section 323.66 of the Revised Code
issue an order that the property be sold or conveyed by the
sheriff or otherwise be disposed of, and the equity of redemption
be extinguished, according to the alternative redemption
procedures prescribed in sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code, or if the action is in the municipal court by the bailiff,
in the manner provided in section 5721.19 of the Revised Code.
In the foreclosure proceeding, the treasurer may join in one
action any number of lots or lands, but the decree shall be
rendered separately, and any proceedings may be severed, in the
discretion of the court or board of revision, for the purpose of
trial or appeal, and the court or board of revision shall make
such order for the payment of costs as is considered proper. The
certificate or master list filed by the auditor with the
prosecuting attorney is prima-facie evidence at the trial of the
foreclosure action of the amount and validity of the taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, and interest appearing due and
unpaid and of their nonpayment.
(B) Foreclosure proceedings constituting an action in rem may
be commenced by the filing of a complaint after the end of the
second year from the date on which the delinquency was first
certified by the auditor. Prior to filing such an action in rem,
the prosecuting attorney shall cause a title search to be
conducted for the purpose of identifying any lienholders or other
persons with interests in the property subject to foreclosure.
Following the title search, the action in rem shall be instituted
by filing in the office of the clerk of a court with jurisdiction
a complaint bearing a caption substantially in the form set forth
in division (A) of section 5721.181 of the Revised Code.
Any number of parcels may be joined in one action. Each
separate parcel included in a complaint shall be given a serial
number and shall be separately indexed and docketed by the clerk
of the court in a book kept by the clerk for such purpose. A
complaint shall contain the permanent parcel number of each parcel
included in it, the full street address of the parcel when
available, a description of the parcel as set forth in the
certificate or master list, the name and address of the last known
owner of the parcel if they appear on the general tax list, the
name and address of each lienholder and other person with an
interest in the parcel identified in the title search relating to
the parcel that is required by this division, and the amount of
taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and interest due and
unpaid with respect to the parcel. It is sufficient for the
treasurer to allege in the complaint that the certificate or
master list has been duly filed by the auditor with respect to
each parcel listed, that the amount of money with respect to each
parcel appearing to be due and unpaid is due and unpaid, and that
there is a lien against each parcel, without setting forth any
other or special matters. The prayer of the complaint shall be
that the court issue an order that the land described in the
complaint be sold in the manner provided in section 5721.19 of the
Revised Code.
(1) Within thirty days after the filing of a complaint, the
clerk of the court in which the complaint was filed shall cause a
notice of foreclosure substantially in the form of the notice set
forth in division (B) of section 5721.181 of the Revised Code to
be published once a week for three consecutive weeks in a
newspaper of general circulation in the county. The newspaper
shall meet the requirements of section 7.12 of the Revised Code.
In any county that has adopted a permanent parcel number system,
the parcel may be described in the notice by parcel number only,
instead of also with a complete legal description, if the
prosecuting attorney determines that the publication of the
complete legal description is not necessary to provide reasonable
notice of the foreclosure proceeding to the interested parties. If
the complete legal description is not published, the notice shall
indicate where the complete legal description may be obtained.
After the third publication, the publisher shall file with
the clerk of the court an affidavit stating the fact of the
publication and including a copy of the notice of foreclosure as
published. Service of process for purposes of the action in rem
shall be considered as complete on the date of the last
publication.
Within thirty days after the filing of a complaint and before
the final date of publication of the notice of foreclosure, the
clerk of the court also shall cause a copy of a notice
substantially in the form of the notice set forth in division (C)
of section 5721.181 of the Revised Code to be mailed by certified
mail, with postage prepaid, to each person named in the complaint
as being the last known owner of a parcel included in it, or as
being a lienholder or other person with an interest in a parcel
included in it. The notice shall be sent to the address of each
such person, as set forth in the complaint, and the clerk shall
enter the fact of such mailing upon the appearance docket. If the
name and address of the last known owner of a parcel included in a
complaint is not set forth in it, the auditor shall file an
affidavit with the clerk stating that the name and address of the
last known owner does not appear on the general tax list.
(2)(a) An answer may be filed in an action in rem under this
division by any person owning or claiming any right, title, or
interest in, or lien upon, any parcel described in the complaint.
The answer shall contain the caption and number of the action and
the serial number of the parcel concerned. The answer shall set
forth the nature and amount of interest claimed in the parcel and
any defense or objection to the foreclosure of the lien of the
state for delinquent taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and
interest as shown in the complaint. The answer shall be filed in
the office of the clerk of the court, and a copy of the answer
shall be served on the prosecuting attorney, not later than
twenty-eight days after the date of final publication of the
notice of foreclosure. If an answer is not filed within such time,
a default judgment may be taken as to any parcel included in a
complaint as to which no answer has been filed. A default judgment
is valid and effective with respect to all persons owning or
claiming any right, title, or interest in, or lien upon, any such
parcel, notwithstanding that one or more of such persons are
minors, incompetents, absentees or nonresidents of the state, or
convicts in confinement.
(b)(i) A receiver appointed pursuant to divisions (C)(2) and
(3) of section 3767.41 of the Revised Code may file an answer
pursuant to division (B)(2)(a) of this section, but is not
required to do so as a condition of receiving proceeds in a
distribution under division (B)(1) of section 5721.17 of the
Revised Code.
(ii) When a receivership under section 3767.41 of the Revised
Code is associated with a parcel, the notice of foreclosure set
forth in division (B) of section 5721.181 of the Revised Code and
the notice set forth in division (C) of that section shall be
modified to reflect the provisions of division (B)(2)(b)(i) of
this section.
(3) At the trial of an action in rem under this division, the
certificate or master list filed by the auditor with the
prosecuting attorney shall be prima-facie evidence of the amount
and validity of the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and
interest appearing due and unpaid on the parcel to which the
certificate or master list relates and their nonpayment. If an
answer is properly filed, the court may, in its discretion, and
shall, at the request of the person filing the answer, grant a
severance of the proceedings as to any parcel described in such
answer for purposes of trial or appeal.
(C) In addition to the actions in rem authorized under
division (B) of this section and section 5721.14 of the Revised
Code, an action in rem may be commenced under this division. An
action commenced under this division shall conform to all of the
requirements of division (B) of this section except as follows:
(1) The prosecuting attorney shall not cause a title search
to be conducted for the purpose of identifying any lienholders or
other persons with interests in the property subject to
foreclosure, except that the prosecuting attorney shall cause a
title search to be conducted to identify any receiver's lien.
(2) The names and addresses of lienholders and persons with
an interest in the parcel shall not be contained in the complaint,
and notice shall not be mailed to lienholders and persons with an
interest as provided in division (B)(1) of this section, except
that the name and address of a receiver under section 3767.41 of
the Revised Code shall be contained in the complaint and notice
shall be mailed to the receiver.
(3) With respect to the forms applicable to actions commenced
under division (B) of this section and contained in section
5721.181 of the Revised Code:
(a) The notice of foreclosure prescribed by division (B) of
section 5721.181 of the Revised Code shall be revised to exclude
any reference to the inclusion of the name and address of each
lienholder and other person with an interest in the parcel
identified in a statutorily required title search relating to the
parcel, and to exclude any such names and addresses from the
published notice, except that the revised notice shall refer to
the inclusion of the name and address of a receiver under section
3767.41 of the Revised Code and the published notice shall include
the receiver's name and address. The notice of foreclosure also
shall include the following in boldface type:
"If pursuant to the action the parcel is sold, the sale shall
not affect or extinguish any lien or encumbrance with respect to
the parcel other than a receiver's lien and other than the lien
for land taxes, assessments, charges, interest, and penalties for
which the lien is foreclosed and in satisfaction of which the
property is sold. All other liens and encumbrances with respect to
the parcel shall survive the sale."
(b) The notice to the owner, lienholders, and other persons
with an interest in a parcel shall be a notice only to the owner
and to any receiver under section 3767.41 of the Revised Code, and
the last two sentences of the notice shall be omitted.
(4) As used in this division, a "receiver's lien" means the
lien of a receiver appointed pursuant to divisions (C)(2) and (3)
of section 3767.41 of the Revised Code that is acquired pursuant
to division (H)(2)(b) of that section for any unreimbursed
expenses and other amounts paid in accordance with division (F) of
that section by the receiver and for the fees of the receiver
approved pursuant to division (H)(1) of that section.
(D) If the prosecuting attorney determines that an action in
rem under division (B) or (C) of this section is precluded by law,
then foreclosure proceedings shall be filed pursuant to division
(A) of this section, and the complaint in the action in personam
shall set forth the grounds upon which the action in rem is
precluded.
(E) The conveyance by the owner of any parcel against which a
complaint has been filed pursuant to this section at any time
after the date of publication of the parcel on the delinquent tax
list but before the date of a judgment of foreclosure pursuant to
section 5721.19 of the Revised Code shall not nullify the right of
the county to proceed with the foreclosure.
Sec. 5721.19. (A) In its judgment of foreclosure rendered
with respect to actions filed pursuant to section 5721.18 of the
Revised Code, the court or the county board of revision with
jurisdiction pursuant to section 323.66 of the Revised Code shall
enter a finding with respect to each parcel of the amount of the
taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and interest, and the
costs incurred in the foreclosure proceeding instituted against
it, that are due and unpaid. The court or the county board of
revision shall order such premises to be transferred pursuant to
division (I) of this section or may order each parcel to be sold,
without appraisal, for not less than either of the following:
(1) The fair market value of the parcel, as determined by the
county auditor, plus the costs incurred in the foreclosure
proceeding;
(2) The total amount of the finding entered by the court or
the county board of revision, including all taxes, assessments,
charges, penalties, and interest payable subsequent to the
delivery to the county prosecuting attorney of the delinquent land
tax certificate or master list of delinquent tracts and prior to
the transfer of the deed of the parcel to the purchaser following
confirmation of sale, plus the costs incurred in the foreclosure
proceeding. For purposes of determining such amount, the county
treasurer may estimate the amount of taxes, assessments, interest,
penalties, and costs that will be payable at the time the deed of
the property is transferred to the purchaser.
Notwithstanding the minimum sales price provisions of
divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section to the contrary, a parcel
sold pursuant to this section shall not be sold for less than the
amount described in division (A)(2) of this section if the highest
bidder is the owner of record of the parcel immediately prior to
the judgment of foreclosure or a member of the following class of
parties connected to that owner: a member of that owner's
immediate family, a person with a power of attorney appointed by
that owner who subsequently transfers the parcel to the owner, a
sole proprietorship owned by that owner or a member of that
owner's immediate family, or a partnership, trust, business trust,
corporation, or association in which the owner or a member of the
owner's immediate family owns or controls directly or indirectly
more than fifty per cent. If a parcel sells for less than the
amount described in division (A)(2) of this section, the officer
conducting the sale shall require the buyer to complete an
affidavit stating that the buyer is not the owner of record
immediately prior to the judgment of foreclosure or a member of
the specified class of parties connected to that owner, and the
affidavit shall become part of the court records of the
proceeding. If the county auditor discovers within three years
after the date of the sale that a parcel was sold to that owner or
a member of the specified class of parties connected to that owner
for a price less than the amount so described, and if the parcel
is still owned by that owner or a member of the specified class of
parties connected to that owner, the auditor within thirty days
after such discovery shall add the difference between that amount
and the sale price to the amount of taxes that then stand charged
against the parcel and is payable at the next succeeding date for
payment of real property taxes. As used in this paragraph,
"immediate family" means a spouse who resides in the same
household and children.
(B) Each parcel affected by the court's finding and order of
sale shall be separately sold, unless the court orders any of such
parcels to be sold together.
Each parcel shall be advertised and sold by the officer to
whom the order of sale is directed in the manner provided by law
for the sale of real property on execution. The advertisement for
sale of each parcel shall be published once a week for three
consecutive weeks and shall include the date on which a second
sale will be conducted if no bid is accepted at the first sale.
Any number of parcels may be included in one advertisement.
The notice of the advertisement shall be substantially in the
form of the notice set forth in section 5721.191 of the Revised
Code. In any county that has adopted a permanent parcel number
system, the parcel may be described in the notice by parcel number
only, instead of also with a complete legal description, if the
prosecuting attorney determines that the publication of the
complete legal description is not necessary to provide reasonable
notice of the foreclosure sale to potential bidders. If the
complete legal description is not published, the notice shall
indicate where the complete legal description may be obtained.
(C)(1) Whenever the officer charged to conduct the sale
offers any parcel for sale the officer first shall read aloud a
complete legal description of the parcel, or in the alternative,
may read aloud only a summary description, including the complete
street address of the parcel, if any, and a parcel number if the
county has adopted a permanent parcel number system and if the
advertising notice prepared pursuant to this section includes a
complete legal description or indicates where the complete legal
description may be obtained. Whenever the officer charged to
conduct the sale offers any parcel for sale and no bids are made
equal to the lesser of the amounts described in divisions (A)(1)
and (2) of this section, the officer shall adjourn the sale of the
parcel to the second date that was specified in the advertisement
of sale. The second date shall be not less than two weeks or more
than six weeks from the day on which the parcel was first offered
for sale. The second sale shall be held at the same place and
commence at the same time as set forth in the advertisement of
sale. The officer shall offer any parcel not sold at the first
sale. Upon the conclusion of any sale, or if any parcel remains
unsold after being offered at two sales, the officer conducting
the sale shall report the results to the court.
(2)(a) If a parcel remains unsold after being offered at two
sales, or one sale in the case of abandoned lands foreclosed under
sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code, or if a parcel
sells at any sale but the amount of the price is less than the
costs incurred in the proceeding instituted against the parcel
under section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, then the clerk of the
court shall certify to the county auditor the amount of those
costs that remains unpaid. At the next semiannual apportionment of
real property taxes that occurs following any such certification,
the auditor shall reduce the real property taxes that the auditor
otherwise would distribute to each taxing district. In making the
reductions, the auditor shall subtract from the otherwise
distributable real property taxes to a taxing district an amount
that shall be determined by multiplying the certified costs by a
fraction the numerator of which shall be the amount of the taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, and interest on the parcel owed
to that taxing district at the time the parcel first was offered
for sale pursuant to this section, and the denominator of which
shall be the total of the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties,
and interest on the parcel owed to all the taxing districts at
that time. The auditor promptly shall pay to the clerk of the
court the amounts of the reductions.
(b) If reductions occur pursuant to division (C)(2)(a) of
this section, and if at a subsequent time a parcel is sold at a
foreclosure sale or a forfeiture sale pursuant to Chapter 5723. of
the Revised Code, then, notwithstanding other provisions of the
Revised Code, except section 5721.17 of the Revised Code,
governing the distribution of the proceeds of a foreclosure or
forfeiture sale, the proceeds first shall be distributed to
reimburse the taxing districts subjected to reductions in their
otherwise distributable real property taxes. The distributions
shall be based on the same proportions used for purposes of
division (C)(2)(a) of this section.
(3) The court, in its discretion, may order any parcel not
sold pursuant to the original order of sale to be advertised and
offered for sale at a subsequent foreclosure sale. For such
purpose, the court may direct the parcel to be appraised and fix a
minimum price for which it may be sold.
(D) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(1) of
section 5721.17 of the Revised Code, upon the confirmation of a
sale, the proceeds of the sale shall be applied as follows:
(1) The costs incurred in any proceeding filed against the
parcel pursuant to section 5721.18 of the Revised Code shall be
paid first.
(2) Following the payment required by division (D)(1) of this
section, the part of the proceeds that is equal to five per cent
of the taxes and assessments due shall be deposited in equal
shares into each of the delinquent tax and assessment collection
funds created pursuant to section 321.261 of the Revised Code. If
a county land reutilization corporation is operating in the
county, the board of county commissioners, by resolution, may
provide that an additional amount, not to exceed five per cent of
such taxes and assessments, shall be credited to the county land
reutilization corporation fund created by section 321.263 of the
Revised Code to pay for the corporation's expenses. If such a
resolution is in effect, the percentage of such taxes and
assessments so provided shall be credited to that fund.
(3) Following the payment required by division (D)(2) of this
section, the amount found due for taxes, assessments, charges,
penalties, and interest shall be paid, including all taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, and interest payable subsequent
to the delivery to the county prosecuting attorney of the
delinquent land tax certificate or master list of delinquent
tracts and prior to the transfer of the deed of the parcel to the
purchaser following confirmation of sale. If the proceeds
available for distribution pursuant to division (D)(3) of this
section are sufficient to pay the entire amount of those taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, and interest, the portion of the
proceeds representing taxes, interest, and penalties shall be paid
to each claimant in proportion to the amount of taxes levied by
the claimant in the preceding tax year, and the amount
representing assessments and other charges shall be paid to each
claimant in the order in which they became due. If the proceeds
are not sufficient to pay that entire amount, the proportion of
the proceeds representing taxes, penalties, and interest shall be
paid to each claimant in the same proportion that the amount of
taxes levied by the claimant against the parcel in the preceding
tax year bears to the taxes levied by all such claimants against
the parcel in the preceding tax year, and the proportion of the
proceeds representing items of assessments and other charges shall
be credited to those items in the order in which they became due.
(E) If the proceeds from the sale of a parcel are
insufficient to pay in full the amount of the taxes, assessments,
charges, penalties, and interest which are due and unpaid; the
costs incurred in the foreclosure proceeding instituted against it
which are due and unpaid; and, if division (B)(1) of section
5721.17 of the Revised Code is applicable, any notes issued by a
receiver pursuant to division (F) of section 3767.41 of the
Revised Code and any receiver's lien as defined in division (C)(4)
of section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, the court, pursuant to
section 5721.192 of the Revised Code, may enter a deficiency
judgment against the owner of record of the parcel for the unpaid
amount. If that owner of record is a corporation, the court may
enter the deficiency judgment against the stockholder holding a
majority of that corporation's stock.
If after distribution of proceeds from the sale of the parcel
under division (D) of this section the amount of proceeds to be
applied to pay the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties,
interest, and costs is insufficient to pay them in full, and the
court does not enter a deficiency judgment against the owner of
record pursuant to this division, the taxes, assessments, charges,
penalties, interest, and costs shall be deemed satisfied.
(F)(1) Upon confirmation of a sale, a spouse of the party
charged with the delinquent taxes or assessments shall thereby be
barred of the right of dower in the property sold, though such
spouse was not a party to the action. No statute of limitations
shall apply to such action. When the land or lots stand charged on
the tax duplicate as certified delinquent, it is not necessary to
make the state a party to the foreclosure proceeding, but the
state shall be deemed a party to such action through and be
represented by the county treasurer.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (F)(3) and (G)
of this section, unless such land or lots were previously redeemed
pursuant to section 5721.25 of the Revised Code, upon the filing
of the entry of confirmation of any sale or the expiration of the
alternative redemption period as defined in section 323.65 of the
Revised Code, if applicable, the title to such land or lots shall
be incontestable in the purchaser and shall be free and clear of
all liens and encumbrances, except a federal tax lien notice of
which is properly filed in accordance with section 317.09 of the
Revised Code prior to the date that a foreclosure proceeding is
instituted pursuant to division (B) of section 5721.18 of the
Revised Code and the easements and covenants of record running
with the land or lots that were created prior to the time the
taxes or assessments, for the nonpayment of which the land or lots
are sold at foreclosure, became due and payable.
(3) When proceedings for foreclosure are instituted under
division (C) of section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, unless the
land or lots were previously redeemed pursuant to section 5721.25
of the Revised Code or before the expiration of the alternative
redemption period, upon the filing of the entry of confirmation of
sale or after the expiration of the alternative redemption period,
as may apply to the case, the title to such land or lots shall be
incontestable in the purchaser and shall be free of any receiver's
lien as defined in division (C)(4) of section 5721.18 of the
Revised Code and, except as otherwise provided in division (G) of
this section, the liens for land taxes, assessments, charges,
interest, and penalties for which the lien was foreclosed and in
satisfaction of which the property was sold. All other liens and
encumbrances with respect to the land or lots shall survive the
sale.
(4) The title shall not be invalid because of any
irregularity, informality, or omission of any proceedings under
this chapter, or in any processes of taxation, if such
irregularity, informality, or omission does not abrogate the
provision for notice to holders of title, lien, or mortgage to, or
other interests in, such foreclosed lands or lots, as prescribed
in this chapter.
(G) If a parcel is sold under this section for the amount
described in division (A)(2) of this section, and the county
treasurer's estimate exceeds the amount of taxes, assessments,
interest, penalties, and costs actually payable when the deed is
transferred to the purchaser, the officer who conducted the sale
shall refund to the purchaser the difference between the estimate
and the amount actually payable. If the amount of taxes,
assessments, interest, penalties, and costs actually payable when
the deed is transferred to the purchaser exceeds the county
treasurer's estimate, the officer shall certify the amount of the
excess to the treasurer, who shall enter that amount on the real
and public utility property tax duplicate opposite the property;
the amount of the excess shall be payable at the next succeeding
date prescribed for payment of taxes in section 323.12 of the
Revised Code.
(H) If a parcel is sold or transferred under this section or
sections 323.28 and 323.65 to 323.78 323.79 of the Revised Code,
the officer who conducted the sale or made the transfer of the
property shall collect the recording fee and any associated costs
to cover the recording from the purchaser or transferee at the
time of the sale or transfer and, following confirmation of the
sale or transfer, shall execute and record the deed conveying
title to the parcel to the purchaser or transferee. For purposes
of recording such deed, by placement of a bid or making a
statement of interest by any party ultimately awarded the parcel,
that purchaser or transferee thereby appoints the officer who
makes the sale or is charged with executing and delivering the
deed as agent for the purchaser or transferee for the sole purpose
of accepting delivery of the deed. For such purposes, the
confirmation of any such sale or order to transfer the parcel
without appraisal or sale shall be deemed delivered upon the
confirmation of such sale or transfer.
(I) Notwithstanding section 5722.03 of the Revised Code, if
the complaint alleges that the property is delinquent vacant land
as defined in section 5721.01 of the Revised Code, abandoned lands
as defined in section 323.65 of the Revised Code, or lands
described in division (E)(F) of section 5722.01 of the Revised
Code, and the value of the taxes, assessments, penalties,
interest, and all other charges and costs of the action exceed the
auditor's fair market value of the parcel, then the court or board
of revision having jurisdiction over the matter on motion of the
plaintiff, or on the court's or board's own motion, shall, upon
any adjudication of foreclosure, order, without appraisal and
without sale, the fee simple title of the property to be
transferred to and vested in an electing subdivision as defined in
division (A) of section 5722.01 of the Revised Code. For purposes
of determining whether the taxes, assessments, penalties,
interest, and all other charges and costs of the action exceed the
actual fair market value of the parcel, the auditor's most current
valuation shall be rebuttably presumed to be, and constitute
prima-facie evidence of, the fair market value of the parcel. In
such case, the filing for journalization of a decree of
foreclosure ordering that direct transfer without appraisal or
sale shall constitute confirmation of the transfer and thereby
terminate any further statutory or common law right of redemption.
Sec. 5721.36. (A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in
division (A)(2) of this section, the purchaser of a tax
certificate sold as part of a block sale pursuant to section
5721.32 of the Revised Code may transfer the certificate to any
person, and any other purchaser of a tax certificate pursuant to
section 5721.32 or 5721.33 of the Revised Code may transfer the
certificate to any person, except the owner of the certificate
parcel or any corporation, partnership, or association in which
such owner has an interest. The transferee of a tax certificate
subsequently may transfer the certificate to any other person to
whom the purchaser could have transferred the certificate. The
transferor of a tax certificate shall endorse the certificate and
shall swear to the endorsement before a notary public or other
officer empowered to administer oaths. The transferee shall
present the endorsed certificate and a notarized copy of a valid
form of identification showing the transferee's taxpayer
identification number to the county treasurer of the county where
the certificate is registered, who shall, upon payment of a fee of
twenty dollars to cover the costs associated with the transfer of
a tax certificate, enter upon the register of certificate holders
opposite the certificate entry the name and address of the
transferee, the date of entry, and, upon presentation to the
treasurer of instructions signed by the transferee, the name and
address of any secured party of the transferee having an interest
in the tax certificate. The treasurer shall deposit the fee in the
county treasury to the credit of the tax certificate
administration fund.
Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of this
section, no request for foreclosure or notice of intent to
foreclose, as the case may be, shall be filed by any person other
than the person shown on the tax certificate register to be the
certificate holder or a private attorney for that person properly
authorized to act in that person's behalf.
(2) Upon registration of a security interest with the county
treasurer, both of the following apply:
(a) No purchaser or transferee of a tax certificate, other
than a county land reutilization corporation, may transfer that
tax certificate except upon presentation to the treasurer of
instructions signed by the secured party authorizing such action.
A county land reutilization corporation may transfer or assign tax
certificates consistent with its public purposes and plan adopted
pursuant to Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code.
(b) Only the secured party may issue a request for
foreclosure or notice of intent to foreclose concerning that tax
certificate.
(3) If a tax certificate is sold as part of a block sale
under section 5721.32 or 5721.33 of the Revised Code, and if the
certificate parcel is abandoned land as defined in section 323.65
of the Revised Code, a county, municipal corporation, township, or
county land reutilization corporation may acquire the tax
certificate within one year from the date the certificate was sold
by providing to the certificate holder a written request to
purchase the certificate and payment of the actual cost the
purchaser paid for the certificate. The acquiring subdivision or
county land reutilization shall pay any costs or fees assessed by
the county treasurer or auditor in relation to the transfer of the
certificate.
(B)(1) Application may be made to the county treasurer for a
duplicate certificate if a certificate is alleged by affidavit to
have been lost or destroyed. The treasurer shall issue a duplicate
certificate, upon payment of a fee of twenty dollars to cover the
costs of issuing the duplicate certificate. The treasurer shall
deposit the fee in the county treasury to the credit of the tax
certificate administration fund.
(2) The duplicate certificate shall be plainly marked or
stamped "duplicate."
(3) The treasurer shall enter the fact of the duplicate in
the tax certificate register.
Sec. 5722.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Electing subdivision" means a municipal corporation that
has enacted an ordinance or a township or county that has adopted
a resolution pursuant to section 5722.02 of the Revised Code for
purposes of adopting and implementing the procedures set forth in
sections 5722.02 to 5722.15 of the Revised Code. A county land
reutilization corporation organized by a county and designated to
act on behalf of the county pursuant to division (B) of section
5722.02 of the Revised Code shall be deemed the electing
subdivision for all purposes of this chapter, except as otherwise
expressly provided in this chapter.
(B) "County land reutilization corporation" means a county
land reutilization corporation organized under Chapter 1724. of
the Revised Code.
(C) "Delinquent lands" has and "delinquent vacant lands" have
the same meaning meanings as in section 5721.01 of the Revised
Code, and "delinquent vacant lands" are delinquent lands that are
unimproved by any dwelling.
(D) "Land reutilization program" means the procedures and
activities concerning the acquisition, management, and disposition
of affected delinquent lands set forth in sections 5722.02 to
5722.15 of the Revised Code.
(E) "Minimum bid," in the case of a sale of property
foreclosed pursuant to section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79,
or section 5721.18, or foreclosed and forfeited pursuant to
section 5721.14 of the Revised Code, means a bid in an amount
equal to the sum of the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties,
and interest due and payable on the parcel subsequent to the
delivery to the county prosecuting attorney of the delinquent land
or delinquent vacant land tax certificate or master list of
delinquent or delinquent vacant tracts containing the parcel, and
prior to the transfer of the deed of the parcel to the purchaser
following confirmation of sale, plus the costs of foreclosure or
foreclosure and forfeiture proceedings against the property.
(F) "Nonproductive land" means any parcel of delinquent
vacant land with respect to which a foreclosure proceeding
pursuant to section 323.25 or sections 323.65 to 323.79, a
foreclosure proceeding pursuant to division (A) or (B) of section
5721.18, or a foreclosure and forfeiture proceeding pursuant to
section 5721.14 of the Revised Code has been instituted; and any
parcel of delinquent land with respect to which a foreclosure
proceeding pursuant to section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79,
or division (A) or (B) of section 5721.18 of the Revised Code has
been instituted, and upon which there are no buildings or other
structures, or upon which there are either to which one of the
following criteria applies:
(1) Buildings There are no buildings or structures located on
the land;
(2) The land is abandoned land as defined in section 323.65
of the Revised Code;
(3) None of the buildings or other structures that are not
located on the parcel are in the occupancy of any person, and as
to which the township or municipal corporation within whose
boundaries the parcel is situated has instituted proceedings under
section 505.86 or 715.26 of the Revised Code, or Section 3 of
Article XVIII, Ohio Constitution, for the removal or demolition of
such buildings or other structures by the township or municipal
corporation because of their insecure, unsafe, or structurally
defective condition;
(2) Buildings (4) None of the buildings or structures that
are not located on the parcel are in the occupancy of any person
at the time the foreclosure proceeding is initiated, and
whose
acquisition the municipal corporation, county, township, or county
land reutilization corporation determines to be necessary for the
implementation of an effective that the parcel is eligible for
acquisition through a land reutilization program.
(G) "Occupancy" means the actual, continuous, and exclusive
use and possession of a parcel by a person having a lawful right
to such use and possession.
(H) "Land within an electing subdivision's boundaries" does
not include land within the boundaries of a municipal corporation,
unless the electing subdivision is the municipal corporation or
the municipal corporation adopts an ordinance that gives consent
to the electing subdivision to include such land.
Sec. 5722.03. (A) On and after the effective date of an
ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to section 5722.02 of the
Revised Code, nonproductive land within an electing subdivision's
boundaries that the subdivision wishes to acquire and that has
either been advertised and offered for sale or is otherwise
available for acquisition pursuant to a foreclosure proceeding as
provided in section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or section
5721.18 of the Revised Code, but is not sold for want of a minimum
bid, shall be sold or transferred to the electing subdivision in
the manner set forth in this section or sections 323.65 to 323.79
of the Revised Code.
(B) Upon receipt of an ordinance or resolution under section
5722.02 of the Revised Code, the county prosecuting attorney shall
compile and deliver to the electing subdivision a list of all
delinquent land within the electing subdivision with respect to
which a foreclosure proceeding pursuant to section 323.25,
sections 323.65 to 323.79, or section 5721.18 of the Revised Code
has been instituted and is pending. The prosecuting attorney shall
notify the electing subdivision of the identity of all delinquent
land within the subdivision whenever a foreclosure proceeding
pursuant to section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or section
5721.18 of the Revised Code is commenced with respect to that
land.
(C) The electing subdivision shall select from such lists the
delinquent lands that constitute nonproductive lands that it
wishes to acquire, and shall notify the prosecuting attorney of
its selection prior to the advertisement and sale of the
nonproductive lands pursuant to such a foreclosure proceeding, or
as otherwise provided in sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code. Notwithstanding the sales price provisions to the contrary
in division (A) of section 323.28 or in divisions (A)(1) and (C)
of section 5721.19 of the Revised Code, selected nonproductive
lands subject to a foreclosure proceeding pursuant to section
323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or section 5721.18 of the
Revised Code that require a sale shall be advertised for sale and
be sold, without appraisal, for not less than the amount
determined under division (A)(1) of section 323.28 or sections
323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code in the case of selected
nonproductive lands subject to a foreclosure proceeding pursuant
to section 323.25 or sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code, or the amount determined under division (A)(2) of section
5721.19 in the case of selected nonproductive lands subject to a
foreclosure proceeding pursuant to section 5721.18 of the Revised
Code, or as prescribed in sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised
Code. Except as otherwise authorized in section 323.78 of the
Revised Code, all nonproductive lands so selected, when advertised
for sale pursuant to a foreclosure proceeding, shall be advertised
separately from the advertisement applicable to other delinquent
lands. Notwithstanding division (A) of section 5721.191 of the
Revised Code, the minimum amount for which selected nonproductive
lands subject to a foreclosure proceeding pursuant to section
5721.18 of the Revised Code will be sold, as specified in the
advertisement for sale, shall equal the sum of the taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, interest, and costs due on the
parcel as determined under division (A)(2) of section 5721.19 of
the Revised Code. Notwithstanding provisions to the contrary in
division (A) of section 323.28 of the Revised Code, the minimum
amount for which selected nonproductive lands subject to a
foreclosure proceeding pursuant to section 323.25 of the Revised
Code will be sold, as specified in the advertisement for sale,
shall equal the amount specified in division (A)(1) of section
323.28 of the Revised Code. The advertisement relating to the
selected nonproductive lands also shall include a statement that
the lands have been determined by the electing subdivision to be
nonproductive lands and that, if at a foreclosure sale no bid for
the appropriate amount specified in this division is received,
such lands shall be sold or transferred to the electing
subdivision.
(D) Except for sales and transfers under sections 323.65 to
323.79 of the Revised Code, if If any nonproductive land selected
by an electing subdivision is advertised and offered for sale at
two sales one sale pursuant to this section but is not sold for
want of a minimum bid, the electing subdivision that selected the
nonproductive land shall be deemed to have submitted the winning
bid at the second such sale for the land, and the land is deemed
sold to the electing subdivision for no consideration other than
the
fee amounts charged under division
divisions (E) and (F) of
this section. If both a county and a township within that county
have adopted a resolution pursuant to section 5722.02 of the
Revised Code and both subdivisions select the same parcel or
parcels of land, the subdivision that first notifies the
prosecuting attorney of such selection shall be the electing
subdivision deemed to have submitted the winning bid under this
division. If a municipal corporation and a county land
reutilization corporation select the same parcel or parcels of
land, the municipal corporation shall be deemed the winning bidder
under this division. The officer conducting the sale shall
announce the bid of the electing subdivision at the sale and shall
report the proceedings to the court for confirmation of sale.
(E) Upon the sale or transfer of any nonproductive land to an
electing subdivision, the county auditor shall charge the costs,
as determined by the court, incurred in the foreclosure proceeding
instituted under section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or
section 5721.18 of the Revised Code and applicable to the
nonproductive land to the taxing districts, including the electing
subdivision, in direct proportion to their interest in the taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, and interest on the nonproductive
land due and payable at the time the land was sold pursuant to the
foreclosure proceeding. The interest of each taxing district in
the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and interest on the
nonproductive land shall bear the same proportion to the amount of
those taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and interest that
the amount of taxes levied by each district against the
nonproductive land in the preceding tax year bears to the taxes
levied by all such districts against the nonproductive land in the
preceding tax year. For the purposes of this division, a county
land reutilization corporation shall be deemed to have the
proportionate interest of the county on whose behalf it has been
designated and organized in the taxes, assessments, charges,
penalties, and interest on the nonproductive land in that county.
In making a semiannual apportionment of funds, the auditor shall
retain at the next apportionment the amount charged to each such
taxing district, except that in the case of a county land
reutilization corporation acting on behalf of a county, the
auditor shall provide an invoice to the corporation for the amount
charged to it.
(F) The officer conducting the sale shall execute and file
for recording a deed conveying title to the land upon the filing
of the the entry of the confirmation of sale, unless the
nonproductive land is redeemed under section 323.31 or 5721.18 of
the Revised Code. If the alternative redemption period applies
under section 323.78 of the Revised Code, the officer shall not
execute the deed and file it for recording until the alternative
redemption period expires. In either case, once the deed has been
recorded, the officer shall deliver the deed to the electing
subdivision; thereupon, title to the land is incontestable in the
electing subdivision and free and clear of all liens and
encumbrances, except those easements and covenants of record
running with the land and created prior to the time at which the
taxes or assessments, for the nonpayment of which the land is sold
or transferred at foreclosure, became due and payable. At
When title to a parcel of land upon which a lien has been
placed under section 715.261, 743.04, or 6119.06 of the Revised
Code is transferred to a county land reutilization corporation
under this section, the lien on the parcel shall be extinguished
if the lien is for costs or charges that were incurred before the
date of the transfer to the corporation and if the corporation did
not incur the costs or charges, regardless of whether the lien was
attached or the costs or charges were certified before the date of
transfer. In such a case, the corporation and its successors in
title shall take title to the property free and clear of any such
lien and shall be immune from liability in any action to collect
such costs or charges.
If a county land reutilization corporation takes title to
property under this chapter before any costs or charges have been
certified or any lien has been placed with respect to the property
under section 715.261, 743.04, or 6119.06 of the Revised Code, the
corporation shall be deemed a bona fide purchaser for value
without knowledge of such costs or lien, regardless of whether the
corporation had actual or constructive knowledge of the costs or
lien, and any such lien shall be void and unenforceable against
the corporation and its successors in title.
At the time of the sale or transfer, the officer shall
collect and the electing subdivision shall pay the fee required by
law for transferring and recording of deeds. In accordance with
section 1724.10 of the Revised Code, an electing subdivision that
is a county land reutilization corporation shall not be required
to pay any such fee.
The title is not invalid because of any irregularity,
informality, or omission of any proceedings under section 323.25,
sections 323.65 to 323.79, this chapter, or Chapter 5721. of the
Revised Code, or in any processes of taxation, if such
irregularity, informality, or omission does not abrogate any
provision of such chapters for notice to holders of title, lien,
or mortgage to, or other interests in, the foreclosed lands.
Sec. 5722.031. (A) If, in any foreclosure proceeding
initiated under section 323.25, sections 323.65 to 323.79, or
section 5721.18 of the Revised Code, a county board of revision,
court of common pleas, or municipal court issues a decree of
foreclosure, order of sale, order of transfer, or confirmation of
sale under section 5722.03 of the Revised Code that transfers a
delinquent parcel to an electing subdivision, the electing
subdivision may file a petition with the board or court to vacate
the decree, order, or confirmation of sale on the basis that such
electing subdivision does not wish to acquire the parcel. The
electing subdivision may file such a petition notwithstanding any
prior request by the electing subdivision or a party acting on
behalf of the electing subdivision to acquire the parcel.
If the electing subdivision files the petition within sixty
days after the journalization of the decree, order, or
confirmation of sale, the board or court shall vacate the decree,
order, or confirmation of sale. If the electing subdivision files
the petition more than sixty days after the journalization of the
decree, order, or confirmation of sale, the board or court may
vacate the decree, order, or confirmation of sale at its
discretion utilizing standards of review prescribed in or
consistent with Civil Rule 60.
(B) An electing subdivision that files a petition under
division (A) of this section shall not be required to intervene in
the proceeding to which the petition relates, but shall file the
petition in the same manner as would a party to the action. Upon
filing the petition, the electing subdivision shall serve notice
of the petition upon all parties to the action, except any party
that previously failed to answer, plead, or appear in the
proceeding as required in Civil Rule 12 or that is deemed to be in
default under division (C) of section 323.69 of the Revised Code.
(C) Upon the vacation of a decree, order, or confirmation of
sale under division (A) of this section, the court of common
pleas, municipal court, or board of revision shall reinstate the
proceeding and schedule any further hearing or disposition
required by law. The court or board shall not issue any further
decree, order, or confirmation of sale transferring the delinquent
parcel to the electing subdivision unless the electing subdivision
petitions the court or board to acquire the parcel under sections
323.28, 323.74, 323.78, 5721.19, or 5722.03 of the Revised Code at
least seven days before a scheduled final hearing or sale of the
parcel pursuant to the proceeding. In such a case, the electing
subdivision shall not file, and the court or board shall not
approve, any subsequent petition to vacate a decree, order, or
confirmation of sale transferring the parcel to the electing
subdivision.
Sec. 5722.04. (A) Upon receipt of an ordinance or resolution
adopted pursuant to section 5722.02 of the Revised Code, the
county auditor shall deliver to the electing subdivision a list of
all delinquent lands within an electing subdivision's boundaries
that have been forfeited to the state pursuant to section 5723.01
of the Revised Code and thereafter shall notify the electing
subdivision of any additions to or deletions from such list.
The electing subdivision shall select from such lists the
forfeited lands that constitute nonproductive lands that the
subdivision wishes to acquire, and shall notify the county auditor
of its selection prior to the advertisement and sale of such
lands. Notwithstanding the sales price provisions of division
(A)(1) of section 5723.06 of the Revised Code, the selected
nonproductive lands shall be advertised for sale and be sold to
the highest bidder for an amount at least sufficient to pay the
amount determined under division (A)(2) of section 5721.16 of the
Revised Code. All nonproductive lands forfeited to the state and
selected by an electing subdivision, when advertised for sale
pursuant to the relevant procedures set forth in Chapter 5723. of
the Revised Code, shall be advertised separately from the
advertisement applicable to other forfeited lands. The
advertisement relating to the selected nonproductive lands also
shall include a statement that the lands have been selected by the
electing subdivision as nonproductive lands that it wishes to
acquire and that, if at the forfeiture sale no bid for the sum of
the taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, interest, and costs
due on the parcel as determined under division (A)(1)(a) of
section 5723.06 of the Revised Code is received, the lands shall
be sold to the electing subdivision.
(B) If any nonproductive land that has been forfeited to the
state and selected by an electing subdivision is advertised and
offered for sale by the auditor pursuant to Chapter 5723. of the
Revised Code, but no minimum bid is received, the electing
subdivision shall be deemed to have submitted the winning bid, and
the land is deemed sold to the electing subdivision for no
consideration other than the fee charged under division (C) of
this section. If both a county and a township in that county have
adopted a resolution pursuant to section 5722.02 of the Revised
Code and both subdivisions select the same parcel or parcels of
land, the electing subdivision deemed to have submitted the
winning bid under this division shall be determined pursuant to
division (D) of section 5722.03 of the Revised Code.
The auditor shall announce the bid at the sale and shall
declare the selected nonproductive land to be sold to the electing
subdivision. The auditor shall deliver to the electing subdivision
a certificate of sale.
(C) On the returning of the certificate of sale to the
auditor, the auditor shall execute and file for recording a deed
conveying title to the selected nonproductive land and, once the
deed has been recorded, deliver it to the electing subdivision.
Thereupon, all previous title is extinguished, and the title in
the electing subdivision is incontestable and free and clear from
all liens and encumbrances, except taxes and special assessments
that are not due at the time of the sale and any easements and
covenants of record running with the land and created prior to the
time at which the taxes or assessments, for the nonpayment of
which the nonproductive land was forfeited, became due and
payable. At
When title to a parcel of land upon which a lien has been
placed under section 715.261, 743.04, or 6119.06 of the Revised
Code is transferred to a county land reutilization corporation
under this section, the lien on the parcel shall be extinguished
if the lien is for costs or charges that were incurred before the
date of the transfer to the corporation and if the corporation did
not incur the costs or charges, regardless of whether the lien was
attached or the costs or charges were certified before the date of
transfer. In such a case, the corporation and its successors in
title shall take title to the property free and clear of any such
lien and shall be immune from liability in any action to collect
such costs or charges.
If a county land reutilization corporation takes title to
property before any costs or charges have been certified or any
lien has been placed with respect to the property under section
715.261, 743.04, or 6119.06 of the Revised Code, the corporation
shall be deemed a bona fide purchaser for value without knowledge
of such costs or lien, regardless of whether the corporation had
actual or constructive knowledge of the costs or lien, and any
such lien shall be void and unenforceable against the corporation
and its successors in title.
At the time of the sale, the auditor shall collect and the
electing subdivision shall pay the fee required by law for
transferring and recording of deeds.
Upon delivery of a deed conveying any nonproductive land to
an electing subdivision, the county auditor shall charge all costs
incurred in any proceeding instituted under section 5721.14 or
5721.18 of the Revised Code or incurred as a result of the
forfeiture and sale of the nonproductive land to the taxing
districts, including the electing subdivision, in direct
proportion to their interest in the taxes, assessments, charges,
interest, and penalties on the nonproductive land due and payable
at the time the land was sold at the forfeiture sale. The interest
of each taxing district in the taxes, assessments, charges,
penalties, and interest on the nonproductive land shall bear the
same proportion to the amount of those taxes, assessments,
charges, penalties, and interest that the amount of taxes levied
by each district against the nonproductive land in the preceding
tax year bears to the taxes levied by all such districts against
the nonproductive land in the preceding tax year. For the purposes
of this division, a county land reutilization corporation shall be
deemed to have the proportionate interest as the county
designating or organizing such corporation in the taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, and interest on the nonproductive
land in the county. In making a semiannual apportionment of funds,
the auditor shall retain at the next apportionment the amount
charged to each such taxing district, except for a county land
reutilization corporation acting on behalf of a county, the
auditor shall invoice the corporation the amount charged to it.
(D) Where If no political subdivision has requested to
purchase a parcel of land at a foreclosure sale, any lands
otherwise forfeited to the state for want of a bid at the
foreclosure sale may, upon the request of a county land
reutilization corporation, be transferred directly to the
corporation without appraisal or public bidding.
Sec. 5722.07. As used in this section, "fair market value"
means the appraised value of the nonproductive land made with
reference to such redevelopment and reutilization restrictions as
may be imposed by the electing subdivision as a condition of sale
or as may be otherwise applicable to such land.
An electing subdivision may, without competitive bidding,
sell any land acquired by it as a part of its land reutilization
program at such times, to such persons, and upon such terms and
conditions, and subject to such restrictions and covenants as it
deems necessary or appropriate to assure the land's effective
reutilization. Except with respect to a sale by or to a county
land reutilization corporation, such land shall be sold at not
less than its fair market value. However, except with respect to
land held by a county land reutilization corporation, upon the
approval of the legislative authorities of those taxing districts
entitled to share in the proceeds from the sale thereof, the
electing subdivision may either retain such land for devotion by
it to public use, or sell, lease, or otherwise transfer any such
land to another political subdivision for the devotion to public
use by such political subdivision for a consideration less than
fair market value.
Whenever an electing subdivision sells any land acquired as
part of its land reutilization program for an amount equal to or
greater than fair market value, it shall execute and deliver all
agreements and instruments incident thereto. The electing
subdivision may execute and deliver all agreements and instruments
without procuring any approval, consent, conveyance, or other
instrument from any other person or entity, including the other
taxing districts entitled to share in the proceeds from the sale
thereof.
An electing subdivision may, for purposes of land
disposition, consolidate, assemble, or subdivide individual
parcels of land acquired as part of its land reutilization
program.
Sec. 5722.10. An electing subdivision may accept a
conveyance in lieu of foreclosure of any delinquent land from the
proper owners thereof. Such conveyance may only be accepted with
the consent of the county auditor acting as the agent of the state
pursuant to section 5721.09 of the Revised Code. If an electing
subdivision or county land reutilization corporation certifies to
the auditor in writing that the delinquent land is abandoned land
as defined in section 323.65 of the Revised Code, the auditor
shall consent to the conveyance. If the electing subdivision or
county land reutilization corporation does not certify to the
auditor in writing that the delinquent land is abandoned land, the
auditor may consent to the conveyance for any reason authorized in
this chapter. The owners or the electing municipal corporation or
township shall pay all expenses incurred by the county in
connection with any foreclosure or foreclosure and forfeiture
proceeding filed pursuant to section 323.25, sections 323.65 to
323.79, or section 5721.18 or 5721.14 of the Revised Code relative
to such land. When the electing subdivision is the county or
county land reutilization corporation acting on behalf of a
county, it may require the owner to pay the expenses. The owner
shall present the electing subdivision with evidence satisfactory
to the subdivision that it will obtain by such conveyance fee
simple title to such delinquent land. Unless otherwise agreed to
by the electing subdivision accepting the conveyance, the title
shall be free and clear of all liens and encumbrances, except such
easements and covenants of record running with the land as were
created prior to the time of the conveyance and delinquent taxes,
assessments, penalties, interest, and charges, and taxes and
special assessments that are a lien on the real property at the
time of the conveyance.
Any costs, charges, or liens that have
been assessed, certified, or placed under section 715.261, 743.04,
or 6119.06 of the Revised Code with respect to real property
acquired by or transferred to a county land reutilization
corporation under this section shall, at the time of the
conveyance to the corporation, be extinguished and of no force and
effect as against the corporation, its successors, or its
assignees, provided that the lien is for charges or costs that
were incurred before the date of transfer to the corporation and
that were not incurred by the corporation.
Real property acquired by an electing subdivision under this
section shall not be subject to foreclosure or forfeiture under
Chapter 5721. or 5723. of the Revised Code. The sale or other
transfer, as authorized by section 5722.07 of the Revised Code, of
real property acquired under this section shall extinguish the
lien on the title for all taxes, assessments, penalties, interest,
and charges delinquent at the time of the conveyance of the
delinquent land to the electing subdivision.
Sec. 5722.11. All lands acquired and held by an electing
subdivision pursuant to this chapter shall be deemed real property
used for a public purpose and, notwithstanding section 5709.08 of
the Revised Code, shall be exempt from taxation until sold. The
exemption of such property shall be governed by the provisions of
division (F) of section 5709.12 of the Revised Code, regardless of
the manner in which such property is acquired.
Sec. 5723.04. (A) The county auditor shall maintain a list
of forfeited lands and shall offer such lands for sale annually,
or more frequently if the auditor determines that more frequent
sales are necessary.
(B) Notwithstanding division (A) of this section, upon the
request of a county land reutilization corporation organized under
Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code, the county auditor shall
promptly transfer to such corporation, by auditor's deed, the fee
simple title to a parcel on the list of forfeited lands, which
shall pass to such corporation free and clear of all taxes,
assessments, charges, penalties, interest, and costs. Any Subject
to division (C) of this section, any subordinate liens shall be
deemed fully and forever satisfied and discharged. Upon such
request, the land is deemed sold by the state for no
consideration. The county land reutilization corporation shall
file the deed for recording.
(C) When title to a parcel of land upon which a lien has been
placed under section 715.261, 743.04, or 6119.06 of the Revised
Code is transferred to a county land reutilization corporation
under this section, the lien on the parcel shall be extinguished
if the lien is for costs or charges that were incurred before the
date of the transfer to the corporation and if the corporation did
not incur the costs or charges, regardless of whether the lien was
attached or the costs or charges were certified before the date of
transfer. In such a case, the corporation and its successors in
title shall take title to the property free and clear of any such
lien and shall be immune from liability in any action to collect
such costs or charges.
If a county land reutilization corporation takes title to
property before any costs or charges have been certified or any
lien has been placed with respect to the property under section
715.261, 743.04, or 6119.06 of the Revised Code, the corporation
shall be deemed a bona fide purchaser for value without knowledge
of such costs or lien, regardless of whether the corporation had
actual or constructive knowledge of the costs or lien, and any
such lien shall be void and unenforceable against the corporation
and its successors in title.
Sec. 5723.12. (A) The county auditor, on making a sale of a
tract of land to any person under this chapter, shall give the
purchaser a certificate of sale. On producing or returning to the
auditor the certificate of sale, the auditor, on payment to the
auditor by the purchaser, the purchaser's heirs, or assigns, of
the sum of forty-five dollars, shall execute and file for
recording a deed, which deed shall be prima-facie evidence of
title in the purchaser, the purchaser's heirs, or assigns. Once
the deed has been recorded, the county auditor shall deliver the
deed to the purchaser. At the time of the sale, the county auditor
shall collect and the purchaser shall pay the fee required by law
for the recording of deeds. In the case of land sold to the state
under division (B) of section 5723.06 of the Revised Code, the
director of natural resources or a county land reutilization
corporation shall execute and file for recording the deed, and pay
the fee required by law for transferring deeds directly to the
county auditor and recording deeds directly to the county
recorder.
(B) Except as otherwise provided in division (C) of this
section and except for foreclosures to which the alternative
redemption period has expired under sections 323.65 to 323.79 of
the Revised Code, when a tract of land has been duly forfeited to
the state and sold under this chapter, the conveyance of the real
estate by the auditor shall extinguish all previous title and
invest the purchaser with a new and perfect title that is free
from all liens and encumbrances, except taxes and installments of
special assessments and reassessments not due at the time of the
sale, federal tax liens other than federal tax liens that are
discharged in accordance with subsection (b) or (c) of section
7425 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," 68A Stat. 3, 26
U.S.C. 1, as amended, and any easements and covenants running with
the land that were created prior to the time the taxes or
assessments, for the nonpayment of which the land was forfeited,
became due and payable and except that, if there is a federal tax
lien on the tract of land at the time of the sale, the United
States is entitled to redeem the tract of land at any time within
one hundred twenty days after the sale pursuant to subsection (d)
of section 7425 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1954," 68A Stat.
3, 26 U.S.C. 1, as amended.
(C) Except for foreclosures to which the alternative
redemption period has already expired under sections 323.65 to
323.79 of the Revised Code, when When a tract of forfeited land
that was foreclosed upon as a result of proceedings for
foreclosure instituted under section 323.25, sections 323.65 to
323.79, or division (C) of section 5721.18 of the Revised Code is
sold or transferred to any person, including a county land
reutilization corporation, under this chapter, the conveyance of
the real estate by the auditor shall extinguish all previous title
and invest the purchaser or transferee with a new title free from
the lien for land taxes, assessments, charges, penalties, and
interest for which the lien was foreclosed, the property was
forfeited to the state, and in satisfaction of which the property
was sold or transferred under this chapter, but subject to all
other liens and encumbrances with respect to the tract. In all
such cases, the purchaser or transferee shall be deemed a bona
fide purchaser for value in accordance with division (C) of
section 5723.04 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 6119.06. Upon the declaration of the court of common
pleas organizing the regional water and sewer district pursuant to
section 6119.04 of the Revised Code and upon the qualifying of its
board of trustees and the election of a president and a secretary,
said district shall exercise in its own name all the rights,
powers, and duties vested in it by Chapter 6119. of the Revised
Code, and, subject to such reservations, limitations and
qualifications as are set forth in this Chapter chapter, such
district may:
(A) Adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs, the
conduct of its business, and notice of its actions;
(B) Adopt an official seal;
(C) Maintain a principal office and suboffices at such places
within the district as it designates;
(D) Sue and plead in its own name; be sued and impleaded in
its own name with respect to its contracts or torts of its
members, employees, or agents acting within the scope of their
employment, or to enforce its obligations and covenants made under
sections 6119.09, 6119.12, and 6119.14 of the Revised Code. Any
such actions against the district shall be brought in the court of
common pleas of the county in which the principal office of the
district is located, or in the court of common pleas of the county
in which the cause of action arose, and all summonses, exceptions,
and notices of every kind shall be served on the district by
leaving a copy thereof at the principal office with the person in
charge thereof or with the secretary of the district.
(E) Assume any liability or obligation of any person or
political subdivision, including a right on the part of such
district to indemnify and save harmless the other contracting
party from any loss, cost, or liability by reason of the failure,
refusal, neglect, or omission of such district to perform any
agreement assumed by it or to act or discharge any such
obligation;
(F) Make loans and grants to political subdivisions for the
acquisition or construction of water resource projects by such
political subdivisions and adopt rules, regulations, and
procedures for making such loans and grants;
(G) Acquire, construct, reconstruct, enlarge, improve,
furnish, equip, maintain, repair, operate, lease or rent to or
from, or contract for operation by or for, a political subdivision
or person, water resource projects within or without the district;
(H) Make available the use or service of any water resource
project to one or more persons, one or more political
subdivisions, or any combination thereof;
(I) Levy and collect taxes and special assessments;
(J) Issue bonds and notes and refunding bonds and notes as
provided in Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code;
(K) Acquire by gift or purchase, hold, and dispose of real
and personal property in the exercise of its powers and the
performance of its duties under Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code;
(L) Dispose of, by public or private sale, or lease any real
or personal property determined by the board of trustees to be no
longer necessary or needed for the operation or purposes of the
district;
(M) Acquire, in the name of the district, by purchase or
otherwise, on such terms and in such manner as it considers
proper, or by the exercise of the right of condemnation in the
manner provided by section 6119.11 of the Revised Code, such
public or private lands, including public parks, playgrounds, or
reservations, or parts thereof or rights therein, rights-of-way,
property, rights, easements, and interests as it considers
necessary for carrying out Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code, but
excluding the acquisition by the exercise of the right of
condemnation of any waste water facility or water management
facility owned by any person or political subdivision, and
compensation shall be paid for public or private lands so taken;
(N) Adopt rules and regulations to protect augmented flow by
the district in waters of the state, to the extent augmented by a
water resource project, from depletion so it will be available for
beneficial use, to provide standards for the withdrawal from
waters of the state of the augmented flow created by a water
resource project which is not returned to the waters of the state
so augmented, and to establish reasonable charges therefor, if
considered necessary by the district;
(O) Make and enter into all contracts and agreements and
execute all instruments necessary or incidental to the performance
of its duties and the execution of its powers under Chapter 6119.
of the Revised Code;
(P) Enter into contracts with any person or any political
subdivision to render services to such contracting party for any
service the district is authorized to provide;
(Q) Enter into agreements for grants or the receipt and
repayment of loans from a board of township trustees under section
505.705 of the Revised Code;
(R) Make provision for, contract for, or sell any of its
by-products or waste;
(S) Exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner
provided in Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code;
(T) Remove or change the location of any fence, building,
railroad, canal, or other structure or improvement located in or
out of the district, and in case it is not feasible or economical
to move any such building, structure, or improvement situated in
or upon lands required, and if the cost is determined by the board
to be less than that of purchase or condemnation, to acquire land
and construct, acquire, or install therein or thereon buildings,
structures, or improvements similar in purpose, to be exchanged
for such buildings, structures, or improvements under contracts
entered into between the owner thereof and the district;
(U) Receive and accept, from any federal or state agency,
grants for or in aid of the construction of any water resource
project, and receive and accept aid or contributions from any
source of money, property, labor, or other things of value, to be
held, used, and applied only for the purposes for which such
grants and contributions are made;
(V) Purchase fire and extended coverage and liability
insurance for any water resource project and for the principal
office and suboffices of the district, insurance protecting the
district and its officers and employees against liability for
damage to property or injury to or death of persons arising from
its operations, and any other insurance the district may agree to
provide under any resolution authorizing its water resource
revenue bonds or in any trust agreement securing the same;
(W) Charge, alter, and collect rentals and other charges for
the use of services of any water resource project as provided in
section 6119.09 of the Revised Code. Such district may refuse the
services of any of its projects if any of such rentals or other
charges, including penalties for late payment, are not paid by the
user thereof, and, if such rentals or other charges are not paid
when due and upon certification of nonpayment to the county
auditor, such rentals or other charges constitute a lien upon the
property so served, shall be placed by the auditor upon the real
property tax list and duplicate, and shall be collected in the
same manner as other taxes.
When title to property is transferred to a county land
reutilization corporation, any lien placed on the property under
this division shall be extinguished, and the corporation shall not
be held liable for any rentals or charges certified under this
division with respect to the property, if the rentals or charges
were incurred before the date of the transfer to the corporation
and if the corporation did not incur the rentals or charges,
regardless of whether the rentals or charges were certified, or
the lien was attached, before the date of transfer. In such a
case, the corporation and its successors in title shall take title
to the property free and clear of any such lien and shall be
immune from liability in any collection action brought with
respect to such rentals or charges. If a lien placed on property
is extinguished as provided in this division, the district shall
retain the ability to recoup the rents and charges incurred with
respect to the property from any owner, tenant, or other person
liable to pay such rents and charges before the property was
transferred to the corporation.
(X) Provide coverage for its employees under Chapters 145.,
4123., and 4141. of the Revised Code;
(Y) Merge or combine with any other regional water and sewer
district into a single district, which shall be one of the
constituent districts, on terms so that the surviving district
shall be possessed of all rights, capacity, privileges, powers,
franchises, and authority of the constituent districts and shall
be subject to all the liabilities, obligations, and duties of each
of the constituent districts and all rights of creditors of such
constituent districts shall be preserved unimpaired, limited in
lien to the property affected by such liens immediately prior to
the time of the merger and all debts, liabilities, and duties of
the respective constituent districts shall thereafter attach to
the surviving district and may be enforced against it, and such
other terms as are agreed upon, provided two-thirds of the members
of each of the boards consent to such merger or combination. Such
merger or combination shall become legally effective unless, prior
to the ninetieth day following the later of the consents,
qualified electors residing in either district equal in number to
a majority of the qualified electors voting at the last general
election in such district file with the secretary of the board of
trustees of their regional water and sewer district a petition of
remonstrance against such merger or combination. The secretary
shall cause the board of elections of the proper county or
counties to check the sufficiency of the signatures on such
petition.
(Z) Exercise the powers of the district without obtaining the
consent of any other political subdivision, provided that all
public or private property damaged or destroyed in carrying out
the powers of the district shall be restored or repaired and
placed in its original condition as nearly as practicable or
adequate compensation made therefor by the district;
(AA) Require the owner of any premises located within the
district to connect the owner's premises to a water resource
project determined to be accessible to such premises and found to
require such connection so as to prevent or abate pollution or
protect the health and property of persons in the district. Such
connection shall be made in accordance with procedures established
by the board of trustees of such district and pursuant to such
orders as the board may find necessary to ensure and enforce
compliance with such procedures.
(BB) Do all acts necessary or proper to carry out the powers
granted in Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 317.32, 321.261, 323.131,
323.25, 323.28, 323.47, 323.65, 323.69, 323.70, 323.71, 323.73,
323.78, 323.79, 715.261, 743.04, 1724.02, 1724.10, 2303.201,
2744.01, 5709.12, 5721.01, 5721.03, 5721.14, 5721.18, 5721.19,
5721.36, 5722.01, 5722.03, 5722.04, 5722.07, 5722.10, 5722.11,
5723.04, 5723.12, and 6119.06 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.
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