Behind on Property Taxes in Marysville, Ohio? Here Are Your Real Options

You Got the Notice. Now What?

If you are holding a delinquent tax notice on a Marysville home — or you have been watching the balance grow for a year or two and you are not sure what comes next — this page is for you. Not for investors. Not for agents. For the homeowner or the family member sitting at the kitchen table trying to figure out what the county can actually do, how much time is left, and whether there is any way to hold onto the house.

Marysville is a growing community in Union County, Ohio, and property values here have moved meaningfully over the past several years. That means there is likely real equity in that house — equity that disappears if the county eventually takes it through a tax sale. The goal of this page is to help you understand the full picture before that happens, starting with every option to keep or stabilize the property, and then explaining what a cash sale looks like if that turns out to be the right path for your situation.

Wright Home Offer is a cash home buyer based in Ohio. We are not an agency, a counseling service, or a law firm. We buy houses in any condition, off-market, directly from homeowners. We serve the Columbus MSA, the Dayton MSA, and the corridor between them — including Union County and Marysville. We will tell you honestly whether selling to us makes sense, and if it does not, we will point you toward the resources that might.

Start here: understanding exactly where you stand under Ohio law.

How Ohio’s Tax Delinquency Process Actually Works in Union County

Ohio’s property tax delinquency and forfeiture process is governed primarily by Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5721. The process is methodical, and it has several stages. Missing an early stage does not mean the house is gone — but each missed deadline narrows your options.

The Timeline You Need to Understand

Ohio property taxes are billed in two installments each year. When an installment goes unpaid, the county treasurer records the parcel as delinquent. Under ORC Chapter 5721, the county auditor is required to compile a delinquent tax list and publish it. That publication is not just a formality — it is the beginning of a formal legal countdown.

Once a property appears on the delinquent list, the county can initiate a foreclosure action through the Board of Revision or through the court system. This is separate from a lender-initiated mortgage foreclosure. The county is acting as a creditor for the unpaid tax debt, and it has the legal authority under Chapter 5721 to pursue the property to satisfy that debt.

The timeline from first delinquency to an actual tax sale is not days — it typically spans months and sometimes more than a year, depending on how the county chooses to proceed and whether you engage in the process. But it moves without you if you ignore it.

What “Tax Forfeiture” Really Means

If a property goes through the full delinquency and foreclosure process without being redeemed, it can ultimately be forfeited to the state or sold through a tax certificate sale. At that point, the original owner loses the property and loses all the equity in it. For a Marysville homeowner who has owned their home for years and built up real equity, that is a significant loss that does not have to happen.

The key point is this: Ohio law gives you tools to interrupt the process at multiple stages. The earlier you act, the more tools you have available.

Can You Save the House? Options to Explore First

Before we talk about selling, let’s be direct about the options that might let you keep the property. These are real options and you deserve to know about them.

Delinquent Tax Payment Plans Through Union County

Ohio law allows county treasurers to enter into delinquent tax payment agreements with property owners. Under ORC §5721.31, a property owner can enter into a written delinquency agreement with the county treasurer that allows the back taxes to be paid over time while stopping the foreclosure action from advancing — as long as the current-year taxes remain current as well.

Contact the Union County Treasurer’s office directly to ask about a payment plan. This is the first call to make. If you can afford to catch up on a structured schedule, this may be the fastest way to stop the clock. The treasurer’s office is not your adversary — their goal is to collect the taxes, not to take your house.

Ohio’s Homestead Exemption — Are You Leaving Money on the Table?

If you are 65 or older, or if you are permanently and totally disabled, or if you are a surviving spouse of someone who was previously receiving the exemption, you may qualify for Ohio’s Homestead Exemption. This reduces the taxable value of your home, which reduces your ongoing tax bill going forward. It does not eliminate back taxes already owed, but it can make the future more manageable. Applications are filed through the Union County Auditor’s office.

HUD-Approved Housing Counseling (Free)

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development maintains a network of HUD-approved housing counseling agencies. These agencies offer free or very low-cost counseling to homeowners facing tax delinquency, mortgage trouble, or foreclosure. A counselor can help you review your full financial picture, negotiate with the county, and explore relief programs you may not know exist. You can find a HUD-approved counselor at the official HUD locator: https://www.hud.gov/findacounselor.

There is no charge for this service when you go through a HUD-approved agency. Be cautious of any company that charges upfront fees to help you “negotiate” with the county — that is not necessary.

Refinancing or a Home Equity Loan to Pay Off the Tax Debt

If you have equity in the house and your credit and income can support it, a cash-out refinance or home equity loan is one way to pay the delinquent taxes in full and move the debt into a monthly mortgage payment. This only works if a lender will approve you — and lenders will generally want the tax lien resolved as a condition of closing, which can create a chicken-and-egg problem. An experienced mortgage broker familiar with tax-delinquent situations can sometimes structure a solution. This path takes time, so it is not viable if you are already deep into the county’s legal process.

If any of the above paths are genuinely available to you, pursue them. Keeping the house is usually the better outcome if the numbers work.

When Selling Makes More Sense Than Fighting

Sometimes the numbers don’t work. The back taxes are substantial. The house needs repairs that would have to be done before a lender would approve a refinance. The family is divided on what to do. The situation has dragged on long enough that exhaustion — financial and emotional — has set in. In those cases, a clean cash sale is not giving up. It is a strategic decision to convert the equity that remains into something you can actually use.

A sale at fair market value to the right buyer can pay off the delinquent taxes at closing, clear any other liens on the property, and put the remaining proceeds in your hands — instead of letting the county’s process consume whatever equity is left.

Why a Cash Sale Can Cut Through the Knot

When a property has delinquent taxes, a traditional retail sale is complicated. Most buyers are financing with a mortgage, and a lender will not close on a property with a tax lien — meaning the seller has to pay off the taxes before or at closing, which requires either cash reserves or a negotiated arrangement that not every title company will accommodate on short notice. Showings, inspections, and appraisals add weeks. Deals fall through when financing falls through.

A cash buyer eliminates the financing contingency entirely. The transaction is between the seller and the buyer. Title is cleared at closing through the settlement process, which includes paying off all outstanding liens — including the delinquent taxes — from the sale proceeds. The seller does not need to come out of pocket to satisfy the tax debt before closing. It gets resolved as part of the closing.

What a Sale to Wright Home Offer Looks Like

Wright Home Offer buys houses directly from homeowners in Marysville and throughout Union County, Ohio. Here is how the process works — plainly, without any sales pressure:

Step one: You reach out. Call us at (937) 998-4239 or submit your address through our website. There is no obligation attached to that contact.

Step two: We underwrite the property. We look at the house, the condition, the delinquent tax balance, and what the property is worth. We do this ourselves before we make you an offer. We do not make teaser offers and then renegotiate after you have emotionally committed to the sale.

Step three: We present a written offer. If it makes sense for both of us, you get a real written offer. You have time to review it, ask questions, and say no.

Step four: You choose the closing date. We can close in as few as seven days if you need that speed. We can also close in 30 or 60 days if you need time to arrange your next step. The timeline is yours to set.

Step five: We close. A licensed Ohio title company handles closing. The delinquent taxes are paid from sale proceeds at closing. You receive the remaining equity. The house transfers. The tax problem is resolved.

We buy houses in any condition. We are not going to walk through the property and give you a list of things to fix before we will make an offer. We see the house as it is — deferred maintenance, dated condition, whatever the situation is — and we price accordingly. The seller does not spend a dollar on repairs.

There are no commissions deducted from your proceeds because we are not agents. The offer we make is the basis for what you receive, minus the normal closing costs that any seller would pay.

For more detail on how we approach the purchase process, see our how we buy houses page.

What Sellers in Your Situation Tell Us (Without the Fabricated Quotes)

We are not going to invent testimonials. What we can tell you is that the sellers who reach out to us in tax-delinquent situations almost universally say the same things when we talk: they wish they had called sooner, they were surprised that the process was straightforward, and they did not realize how much the tax debt was quietly consuming while they waited.

The homeowners we hear from are not irresponsible people. They are people who had a difficult year — or several — and the taxes slipped. A medical event. A job loss. A divorce. A death in the family that left a property in an estate nobody knew how to manage. Tax delinquency is not a character flaw. It is a circumstance, and circumstances can be addressed.

You can read verified reviews from sellers we have worked with at wrighthomeoffer.com/reviews/.

No Pressure. Just a Straight Answer.

If you own a home in Marysville or anywhere in Union County and the property taxes have gotten away from you, the worst thing you can do is wait for the situation to resolve itself. It will not. Under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5721, the county’s process moves forward on its own schedule regardless of whether you are engaged with it.

Call the Union County Treasurer first. Talk to a HUD-approved counselor if you are not sure what the options are. And if a cash sale starts to look like the right answer, we are here.

Wright Home Offer
(937) 998-4239
Get a cash offer on your Marysville home

There is no obligation to call. We will tell you honestly what we can offer and whether it makes sense. If it does not, we will tell you that too. Our business is built on people trusting us enough to refer neighbors and family members — that only happens when we are straight with people, even when a sale to us is not the right answer.