What a Summit County tax certificate is
A tax certificate is the county selling its claim for your unpaid taxes to a private buyer. The Fiscal Office’s guide explains it plainly: the certificate transfers the state’s first and superior lien on a delinquent parcel to the purchaser, who holds only the lien, has no legal right of ownership, and has no contact with the property owner.
The buyer pays the “certificate purchase price,” meaning the delinquent taxes, assessments, penalties, fees and interest on the parcel. In return it earns interest from you until you pay it back. Summit, which as a charter county runs this through the Fiscal Office rather than a separate treasurer, held its first sale in late October 1998 and says it has collected about $150 million in delinquencies through 2025.
Which parcels go into the sale, and how to stay out
Not every delinquent parcel is sold. The Fiscal Office’s 2026 guide says:
- a parcel must be certified delinquent for at least one year;
- properties in bankruptcy or foreclosure are not offered;
- owners on a Delinquent Tax Payment Plan who have paid current taxes are not included;
- the Fiscal Officer has full discretion to select and remove parcels.
Before the sale, the county must send written notice by certified or registered mail to the owner or interested parties of each selected parcel within 30 days of the sale date.
The Fiscal Office’s tax certificate page gives the two ways to avoid the sale: pay your taxes in full, or enter a payment plan with the Delinquent Tax Department at 330-643-2600. That plan sets a monthly amount based on what you can pay, freezes the delinquent balance so no more interest is added, and requires you to pay current taxes when due. Ohio’s R.C. 323.31 gives an owner-occupant at least one chance at a delinquent tax contract if no certificate or judgment is outstanding.
How Summit runs the sale
Summit doesn’t auction parcels one by one in a room. According to its guide:
- it bundles the entire delinquent list into one unit and sells it through a negotiated sale, with bids submitted electronically;
- it collects the full amount owed on each parcel and, since 1998, has never sold a certificate at a discount or a premium;
- bidders register with a $500 fee, put up a 10% deposit and a letter of financial standing, and pay the balance within five days;
- bids state an interest rate, which can’t exceed 18% a year, simple interest.
The holder’s interest is added on the first of each month. The guide’s example: on a $2,700 certificate at a 9.5% bid rate, about $21.37 a month is added until you redeem or the holder forecloses.
On timing, the guide says Summit holds one sale a year. It describes the sales as held “annually in October” in one passage and “usually at the beginning of each November” in another, so check the current date with the Delinquent Tax Department rather than relying on a month.
After a certificate is sold: your options
Once a certificate is sold, you deal with the certificate holder, not the Fiscal Office. The Fiscal Office must send you a certified-mail notice that the certificate was sold and describing how to redeem. The guide lists:
- Pay the lien in full to redeem.
- Enter a redemption payment plan with the certificate holder, generally within the first year. Payments are the total divided over the remaining eligible months.
- Redeem early. If you redeem before the plan ends, the holder is entitled only to interest from purchase to redemption, or 6% of the purchase price, as applicable.
Under R.C. 5721.38, you redeem before foreclosure starts by paying the certificate redemption prices of every certificate on the parcel. If you don’t pay the next tax bill, the holder can buy a subsequent certificate, which the guide says carries a fixed 18%.
When the holder can foreclose
The guide and R.C. 5721.37 set the window: any time after one year, and before the certificate expires, the holder can file a request for foreclosure with the county treasurer, which the county prosecutor then brings, or have a private attorney file a notice of intent to foreclose. Summit’s guide says certificates are valid for four years; if the holder takes no action in that time, the certificate expires.
To foreclose, the holder must pay:
- the prosecutor’s fees, currently $3,000;
- all other foreclosure costs;
- any prior certificates and other delinquent taxes not covered.
From the foreclosure request on, the certificate accrues 18% until the property sells. If it sells at sheriff sale, the holder is repaid its price, interest and costs. If it fails to sell at two sales, the guide says the certificate holder receives ownership, and the Summit Sheriff’s FAQ confirms an unsold tax case is deemed forfeited to the lienholder. Under R.C. 5721.38 you can still redeem until confirmation by paying the full amount, including 18% interest and costs.
Errors and void certificates
The guide says a certificate is void if it was sold after the taxes were paid in full, or after you’d already signed an installment agreement with the Fiscal Officer. In that case the holder gets its money back from the county, and your parcel isn’t subject to it. If you believe a certificate was sold in error, call the Delinquent Tax Department with your proof of payment or your plan agreement.
Where this fits for a seller
A tax certificate is a lien like any other at closing: the title company pays the holder’s redemption price from your proceeds. The delinquent property taxes guide covers the statewide rules, the Summit County sheriff sale process covers Tuesday tax sales, and our page on selling a house with back taxes covers the seller’s decision. If a certificate holder is charging 18% on your Summit County house, ask us for an as-is figure to compare with the payoff.
