Investors from Omaha to Chicago last year bought tens of millions of dollars worth of delinquent property tax debts from Ohio county treasurers, setting new records in several counties. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Associated Press.
This gives those institutional investors the right to collect on liens, plus up to 18% interest, from Ohioans who are buckling under the weight of post-pandemic leaps on their property tax bills.
State lawmakers in 1998 legalized the sale of delinquent tax debt, joining roughly half of U.S. states that do so.
Several of Ohio's biggest counties are now selling record levels of certificates, according to data provided by their treasurers' offices. Cuyahoga County in June sold off $18 million worth of debt, higher than any year on record. Franklin County last year sold $10 million, double the size of most years' sales. In the Cincinnati area, both Hamilton and Warren counties sold off more debt in 2025 and 2026 than any year over the past decade. Lucas County is planning its first tax lien sale since 2008.
The system rewards companies as property owners accrue more debt. Buyers of the initial liens also give investors the right to purchase all "subs" – subsequent lien certificates that counties sell off when a property once again falls behind on its taxes. Those certificates require by law an 18% interest rate atop the principal. In rare cases, the investors can pursue foreclosure if debtors fail to pay.
County treasurers say the lien certificate sales are a critical enforcement tool. In most cases, the repeated letters warning property owners of a looming sale spur them to settle their debt or enter a payment plan. And the tax liens that are sold, they say, make an efficient means for counties to collect what they're owed. The entire system acts as a deterrent, ensuring people pay in full and trust that their neighbors aren't freeloading.
Plus, several treasurers negotiate different kinds of consumer protections into the sales, like limiting interest rates or screening out certain low-income households or small-dollar debtors from sales.
Endgames from lien sales can be devastating. Last year, Ashtabula County's treasurer wrote a letter to Tax Ease Ohio – an affiliate of PVOne Capital, of Chicago – asking for debt forgiveness for a 73-year-old widower. The county sold Tax Ease five certificates for the man's debt in 2014 and 2015 worth nearly $21,000. A decade later, he had already paid $40,500, and still owed another $21,600.
"It is never the goal of this office to see members of our community lose their homes, particularly elderly residents who have worked diligently to meet their obligations," wrote treasurer Angie Maki-Cliff in a letter to the company.
Interest in eliminating these sales has gained traction in Columbus. Bipartisan lawmakers have proposed legislation that would prohibit the sales of these liens on residential and agricultural properties. The effort is backed by mortgage lenders, who say the debts resemble predatory loans in that the interest rates trap borrowers in a debt cycle that ends with crippling payments far beyond the original bill.
The lawmakers also criticized county treasurers for what they described as outsourcing their work enforcing Ohio's tax laws.
"Property owners should not be subject to a predatory lien sale without their consent," said Daniel Broering, CEO of the People's Bank Co., to state lawmakers. "It is a business model built around profit from displacement."
Amy Acton, a former physician and state health official running for governor as a Democrat, recently proposed a crackdown on county lien certificate sales. In a statement, her campaign said the lien sales can be appropriate, especially against "corporate bad actors." The statement also called for cracking down on "predatory" collections practices against vulnerable homeowners who are struggling.