How to Find the Tax Delinquent Property List in Dayton, Ohio

The tax delinquent property list for Dayton, Ohio is published by the Montgomery County Treasurer and is available online at the Treasurer’s website, where you can look up any parcel by address, owner name, or parcel ID.¹ The county also prints the list in a local newspaper twice a year, as Ohio law requires.² Each entry shows the owner’s name, the parcel ID, and the total amount owed.³

Where to Find the List

The quickest route is the Montgomery County Treasurer’s online search portal, which lets you pull up any parcel in the county by address, owner name, or parcel number.¹ The Treasurer also keeps a dedicated delinquent list page showing owner names, parcel IDs, and the delinquent balance for each account.³

Separately, Ohio law requires the county auditor to publish the delinquent tax list in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The list must appear twice within 60 days after the delinquent land duplicate is delivered to the treasurer, and the published notice must describe payment methods, installment plan options, and the warning that listed parcels are subject to a tax certificate sale.²

What Each Record Shows

Every parcel in Montgomery County carries a unique parcel identification number that begins with a capital letter, like A01 00107 0001.¹ The list ties the delinquency to that parcel, along with the owner of record and the balance owed.

The amount is broken out so you can see the unpaid principal taxes separately from penalties and accrued interest. By statute, the delinquent land duplicate must include the total of all taxes, assessments, penalties, and interest due against each parcel.⁴

When a Property Ends Up on the List

Montgomery County real estate taxes are paid in two installments. For 2026, the first half is due February 13 and the second half is due July 17.⁵ Any taxes from a prior year that remain unpaid are classified as delinquent under Ohio law, and current-year taxes become delinquent once the second installment deadline passes without full payment.⁶

After the treasurer settles accounts with the auditor (by mid-February and again by mid-August each year), the auditor compiles the official delinquent land list and sends a duplicate to the treasurer.⁴ Any parcel still carrying delinquent taxes at that settlement goes on the list.⁷ There is still a window to get off before publication: a payment made at least seven days before the first newspaper publication date removes the parcel from the list entirely.⁸

What It Costs to Stay on the List

Missing a payment deadline triggers a 10 percent penalty on the unpaid balance of that installment. If the full year’s taxes are still unpaid when the second deadline passes, another 10 percent penalty attaches to the remaining balance. Interest then begins accruing monthly on all delinquent taxes starting the first day of the month after the second installment deadline.⁹

The numbers compound quickly. An owner who misses both installments eats the 10 percent penalty twice, plus monthly interest on a growing balance. A parcel left alone for a few years can carry a bill well above the original taxes.

Getting Off the List: Payment Plans

If you own and occupy residential property in Montgomery County and your taxes are overdue, Ohio law guarantees you at least one chance to enter a delinquent tax contract with the county treasurer. The written agreement lets you pay off the balance in installments over up to five years, and you can request a minimum term of at least two years.¹⁰ Owners of agricultural property qualify as well.

A valid payment plan shields the parcel from tax foreclosure and from having a tax lien certificate sold against it.¹¹ If the contract is in place before the delinquent list is published, your name can be removed from the list or marked with an asterisk showing an active plan.⁸

You have to keep up with it. Miss an installment or fall behind on current taxes while on the plan and the contract becomes void. The treasurer certifies the default to the auditor, penalties and interest are added back onto the balance, and the prosecutor’s office can begin foreclosure immediately.¹⁰ A second contract is at the treasurer’s discretion, not a right.

What Happens If You Don’t Act

Tax Lien Certificate Sales

Before foreclosure, Montgomery County often sells tax lien certificates to third-party investors under Ohio Revised Code 5721.33. The investor buys the right to collect the tax debt, not the property.¹² Every parcel with delinquent taxes is eligible.

When a certificate sells, the owner receives a certified letter identifying the buyer and the total needed to clear the debt: the delinquent taxes, a $400 administrative fee, any applicable premium, and interest of up to 18 percent per year.¹² That 18 percent cap is set by statute.¹³ The owner keeps the right to redeem by paying the full redemption price at any time before foreclosure is finalized, though once foreclosure starts the cost expands to include the certificate holder’s attorney fees and court costs.¹⁴

Foreclosure and Sheriff’s Sale

Where no payment plan exists (or the plan has been voided), the county can foreclose. The treasurer can file a civil action to enforce the tax lien under Ohio Revised Code 323.25 once the taxes have been delinquent for 60 days after delivery of the delinquent land duplicate, provided no valid payment contract is in place and no tax certificate has been sold.¹⁵ The prosecutor can also pursue in rem foreclosure under Ohio Revised Code 5721.18, which targets the property itself and becomes available two years after the auditor first certified the delinquency.¹⁶

A foreclosure judgment ends in a public auction run by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Since January 2022, those sales have been conducted online through Realauction, with in-person auctions still held on the first Thursday of each month at 451 W. Third Street in Dayton.¹⁷

Special Situations

Two circumstances change the ordinary rules. Active-duty servicemembers are protected by the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act: their property cannot be sold for delinquent taxes without a court order finding that military service did not materially affect their ability to pay, interest on unpaid property taxes is capped at 6 percent per year with no additional penalties, and courts can stay collection proceedings for the full period of service plus 180 days.¹⁸ The protections are not automatic; the servicemember has to raise them, usually by notifying the county with a copy of their orders.

Filing bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay that halts foreclosure, including a scheduled sheriff’s sale, under 11 USC 362.¹⁹ Chapter 13 lets a homeowner repay delinquent taxes through a court-supervised plan over three to five years.²⁰ The taxes still have to be paid in full through the plan; bankruptcy buys time, not forgiveness. For most Dayton homeowners on the delinquent list, a payment contract with the Treasurer is faster and cheaper than a bankruptcy filing.

1
Montgomery County, Ohio. Real Estate Tax Information System Online Record Search
2
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5721.03 – County Auditor to Compile Delinquent Tax List and Delinquent Vacant Land Tax List, Publication
3
Montgomery County, OH – Official Website. Delinquent List
4
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5721.011 – Delinquent Land List
5
Montgomery County, Ohio. Frequently Asked Questions – When Are Taxes Due
6
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323 – Collection of Taxes, Delinquent Taxes Definitions
7
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5721.01 – Delinquent Lands Definitions
8
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5721.02 – Collection of Delinquent Taxes
9
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.121 – Penalty and Interest for Failure to Pay Real Estate Taxes and Installments When Due
10
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.31 – Delinquent Tax Contracts
11
Montgomery County, OH – Official Website. Delinquency Payment Plans
12
Montgomery County, OH – Official Website. Tax Lien Certificate Sale
13
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5721.42 – Interest Rate on Tax Certificates
14
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5721.38 – Redemption of Certificate Parcel
15
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 323.25 – Enforcing Tax Lien
16
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 5721.18 – Foreclosure Proceedings on Lien
17
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Properties for Sale
18
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3991 – Taxes Respecting Personal Property, Money, Credits, and Real Property
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
20
United States Courts. Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy Basics