How does Ohio fast-track the foreclosure of a vacant and abandoned home?
In an Ohio foreclosure of a home, the lender can file a motion asking the court to move faster because the property is vacant and abandoned. At an oral hearing, the court must find the home vacant and abandoned if the loan is in default and clear and convincing evidence shows at least three listed signs of abandonment, among other conditions.
The fast track covers residential property with four or fewer dwelling units, each meant for a separate household.
- Signs on the list include disconnected gas, electric, sewer or water service; boarded-up or closed-off windows or several broken, unrepaired panes; and doors that are smashed, broken, unhinged or never locked.
- Piled-up junk, trash or debris, missing furniture, curtains or personal belongings, and vandalism, loitering, crime or physical deterioration also count.
- So does a written statement from a county, city or township official that the building is vacant and abandoned.
The fast track isn't available if an owner or other defendant has filed a defense that would block foreclosure, or has told the court in writing that the property is not vacant and abandoned. If no local official has verified the vacancy, the court must order one to check within seven days of its preliminary finding.
Once the court enters judgment on a vacant and abandoned home, the property must be offered for sale within 75 days after the order of sale. For a property found vacant and abandoned this way, the owner's redemption rights end when the sale is confirmed.
Ohio owners with an empty house and a past-due mortgage will find the ordinary process that the fast track shortens in this walk-through of Ohio foreclosure.
Who can secure a vacant house in an Ohio foreclosure, and how?
Once a court finds a home vacant and abandoned, the lender may enter it to secure it and protect it from damage. A lender that hasn't filed for foreclosure may enter and secure the property only if the mortgage or other documents allow it.
Ohio bans using plywood to secure a property that a court has found vacant and abandoned.
An owner who has been served with a foreclosure case on a mortgaged home and deliberately damages or tampers with it to lower its value is guilty of criminal mischief.
Can neighbors in Ohio ask a court to appoint a receiver for a nuisance building?
Yes. A neighbor, a tenant, a qualifying nonprofit, or the city or township can sue over a building alleged to be a public nuisance and ask the court to appoint a receiver. A neighbor here means anyone who owns, or is under contract to buy, property within 500 feet of the building.
A public nuisance includes a building that is unsafe, unsanitary, a fire hazard, or no longer fit to live in, or that endangers the public through poor maintenance, dilapidation or abandonment. The law doesn't reach an owner-occupied building with three or fewer units.
The hearing comes at least 28 days after the owner and other interested parties are served. Whoever brings the case isn't liable for the receiver's costs, expenses and fees.
If the judge orders the owner to fix the nuisance, the owner gets no more than 30 days to comply, unless the judge extends that for good cause.
If the owner already had a fair chance to fix the building and refused or failed, the judge must offer the lender, lienholders and other interested parties, in order of priority, the chance to do the work and supply the materials. If none of them is willing or able, the judge can appoint a receiver to take possession and control of the building.
A receiver must first give the judge a workable financial and construction plan to rehabilitate the building and show it can do the work.
How can an Ohio city make an owner repair or remove an unsafe building?
Any Ohio city or village can inspect buildings and provide for removing or repairing ones that are insecure, unsafe or structurally defective. At least 30 days before removing or repairing such a building, the city must send notice by certified mail to the owners of record and to lienholders.
In an emergency, as the city determines, notice can be given another way and on shorter notice.
The city can put the cost of securing, repairing or removing an abandoned or unsafe building on the property tax bill, where it becomes a lien. The city can also sue whoever owned the property when the costs were incurred.
What happens to an abandoned Ohio property with unpaid taxes?
Ohio has an expedited tax foreclosure for abandoned land: tax-delinquent property, including buildings on it, that is unoccupied. The county treasurer or prosecutor can foreclose the tax lien on those parcels through that faster process to collect the taxes and get the land back on the tax list.
A parcel is presumed unoccupied if two or more signs apply, such as no one visibly there when a local government inspects, no utility connections, or a building that looks insecure, vacant or vandalized.
The county board of revision hears these cases, no sooner than 30 days after the owner is served. An owner who files a motion within 14 days of being served can have the case moved to a court instead.
When the treasurer uses the alternative redemption period, the owner has only 28 days after the foreclosure is journalized to redeem. If a city, township, county, school district, community development group or county land bank has asked for the parcel, the parcel is then deeded straight to the one that asked, without an appraisal or sale.
Whoever receives the property that way must sell it at a sheriff's auction or by sealed bids. Money from that sale beyond the taxes, charges and costs goes to the county treasurer within 45 days and is handled like other tax-sale surplus.
How do you report a vacant, dangerous building in Cincinnati, Ohio?
Cincinnati takes complaints about vacant and hazardous buildings by phone at 513-591-6000 or online. After a complaint, the city inspects the building and condemns it if it is found dangerous and unsafe.
If the owner ignores the condemnation order, the building goes to a public nuisance hearing that decides whether the city will demolish it.
The city's Hazard Abatement Program tears down vacant, condemned buildings and boards up open, abandoned ones.
You can also tell me where it is. I'll find out who owns it and reach out about buying it and fixing it up.