Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 5721
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 5721.40 (2026)

Forfeiture of parcel remaining unsold after two sales

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORCcodes.ohio.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Effective:
April 7, 2009
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 353 - 127th General Assembly
PDF:
Download Authenticated PDF
 

If any tax certificate parcel is twice offered for sale pursuant to section 5721.39 of the Revised Code and remains unsold for want of bidders, the officer who conducted the sales shall certify to the court or board of revision that the parcel remains unsold after two sales. The court or board of revision, by entry, shall order the parcel forfeited to the certificate holder who filed the request for foreclosure or notice of intent to foreclose under section 5721.37 of the Revised Code. The clerk of the court shall certify copies of the court's order to the county treasurer. The county treasurer shall notify the certificate holder by ordinary and certified mail, return receipt requested, that the parcel remains unsold, and shall instruct the certificate holder of the manner in which the holder shall obtain the deed to the parcel. The officer who conducted the sales shall prepare and record the deed conveying title to the parcel to the certificate holder.

Nothing in this section impedes, abridges, or restricts a certificate holder from instituting foreclosure proceedings under sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code.

Upon transfer of the deed to the certificate holder under this section, all right, title, claim, and interest in the certificate parcel are transferred to and vested in the certificate holder. The title to the parcel is incontestable in the certificate holder and is free and clear of all liens and encumbrances, except the following:

(A) A federal tax lien, notice of which was properly filed in accordance with section 317.09 of the Revised Code prior to the date that the foreclosure proceeding was instituted under section 5721.37 of the Revised Code and which was foreclosed in accordance with 28 U.S.C. 2410(c);

(B) Easements and covenants of record running with the land that were created prior to the time the taxes or assessments, for the nonpayment of which a tax certificate was issued, became due and payable.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 2012–2022 · leading case: Treasurer of Cuyahoga Cty. v. Robshir Props., L.L.C., 2019 Ohio 535 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Treasurer of Cuyahoga Cty. v. Robshir Props., L.L.C., 2019 Ohio 535 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 4× “Specifically, appellant argues that the trial court’s judgment violated R.C. 5721.40 and that the trial court erred in its application of R.”
Fipps v. Day, 2022 Ohio 3434 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022). “On July 24, 2019, the trial court issued an order of forfeiture: Pursuant to R.C. 5721.40, the parcel, having been offered for sale twice is hereby forfeited to the certificate holder.”
Tax Ease Ohio, L.L.C. v. Lucas, 2018 Ohio 3075 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 2× “{¶ 2} On January 8, 2016, Tax Ease filed a complaint for foreclosure of real property located at 1822 Gummer Avenue in Dayton, Ohio. The property owner, Lucas, was personally served with the complaint on January 16, 2016.”
Woods Cove III, L. L.C. v. Am. Guaranteed Mgmt. Co., 2018 Ohio 1829 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018). “{¶ 8} They argued further that Ohio's tax certificate legislation violates due process protections of the United States and Ohio Constitutions because under R.C. 5721.40, after two unsuccessful attempts to sell the tax certificate property, the tax certificate holder obtains an…”
Am. Tax Funding, L.L.C. v. Archon Realty Co., 2012 Ohio 5530 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012). · cites it 7× “By ordering the forfeiture, the trial court was complying with the mandate of R.C. 5721.40 that property be forfeited to the holder of a tax certificate when two attempted sheriff’s sales result in no bidders.”
Wiids Cove II, L.L.C. v. Williams, 2017 Ohio 9273 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 3× “Because the sales attempts were completed but the property remained unsold for want of a bidder, pursuant to R.C. 5721.40, the court ordered that the property be forfeited to Mountainside, the successor in interest to Woods Cove.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.