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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
S. B. No. 366
2025-2026
Senators Blessing, Ingram
Cosponsor: Senator DeMora
To
amend sections 317.22
and
319.20 and to enact section 319.204 of the Revised Code
to
sometimes require payment of delinquent property taxes and
assessments when a lot is transferred.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 317.22
and
319.20 be amended and section 319.204 of the Revised Code be enacted
to read as follows:
Sec.
317.22.
No
deed of absolute conveyance of land or any conveyance, absolute or
otherwise, of minerals or mineral rights shall be recorded by the
county recorder until:
(A)
The conveyance presented to the county recorder bears the stamp of
the county auditor stating the conveyance has been examined and the
grantor has complied with
section
sections
319.202
and
319.204
of
the Revised Code;
(B)
Such conveyance has been presented to the county auditor, and by the
county auditor indorsed "transferred," or "transfer
not necessary."
Before
any real estate, the title to which has passed under the laws of
descent, is transferred from the name of the ancestor to the heir at
law or next of kin of such ancestor, or to any grantee of such heir
or next of kin; and before any deed or conveyance of real estate made
by any such heir or next of kin is presented to or filed for record
by the recorder, the heir or next of kin, or that person's grantee,
agent, or attorney shall present to the auditor the affidavit of such
heir or next of kin, or of two persons resident of this state, each
of whom has personal knowledge of the facts. Such affidavit shall set
forth the date of the ancestor's death, and the place of residence at
the time of death; the fact that the ancestor died intestate; the
names, ages, and addresses, so far as known and can be ascertained,
of each of such ancestor's heirs at law and next of kin, who, by the
ancestor's death, inherited such real estate, the relationship of
each to the ancestor, and the part or portion of such real estate
inherited by each. Such transfers shall be made by the auditor in
accordance with the statement contained in the affidavit, and the
auditor shall indorse upon the deed or conveyance the fact that such
transfer was made by affidavit. The affidavit shall be filed with the
county recorder of the county in which such real estate is situated,
at or before the time such deed or conveyance is filed with the
county recorder, and shall be recorded by the county recorder of the
county in the official records and indexed in the direct and reverse
indexes in the county recorder's office, in the name of such ancestor
as grantor and of each such heir or next of kin as grantee, in the
same manner as if such names occurred in a deed of conveyance from
the ancestor to such heirs at law. The county recorder shall receive
the same fees for such indexing and recording as provided by section
317.32 of the Revised Code.
(C)
The record of such affidavit shall, in the trial of any cause, so far
as competent, be prima-facie evidence.
(D)
No county recorder shall record a conveyance if the indorsement,
indorsements, or stamps of indorsement of a county auditor indicating
compliance with section 319.202 of the Revised Code on the conveyance
are in whole or in part defaced, illegible, or incomplete.
Sec.
319.20.
After
complying with sections
315.251,
319.202,
315.251,
and
319.203
,
and 319.204
of the Revised Code, and on application and presentation of title,
with the affidavits required by law, or the proper order of a court
or the county board of revision, bearing the last known address of
the grantee, or of any one of the grantees named in the title, and a
reference to the volume and page of the recording, or other means of
identifying the recording, of the next preceding recorded instrument
by or through which the grantor claims title, the county auditor
shall transfer any land or town lot or part thereof, minerals
therein, or mineral rights thereto, charged with taxes on the tax
list, from the name in which it stands into the name of the owner,
when rendered necessary by a conveyance, partition, devise, descent,
or otherwise. If by reason of the conveyance or otherwise, a part
only of a tract or lot, minerals therein, or mineral rights thereto,
as charged in the tax list, is to be transferred, the auditor shall
determine the tax value of the part of a tract or lot of real estate,
minerals therein, or mineral rights thereto, so transferred, and the
value of the remaining part compared with the value of the whole.
Whenever
section
319.204 of the Revised Code does not apply, and
a
part only of a tract or lot of real estate has been transferred by
the auditor and the tract or lot bears unpaid taxes, penalties,
interest, or special assessments, the unpaid taxes, penalties,
interest, or special assessments shall immediately be apportioned,
upon demand or request by the transferee or remaining owner, in the
following manner:
(A)
The auditor shall allocate to the part so transferred, and to the
remaining part, amounts of any current or delinquent taxes, interest,
or penalties that have accrued against the parcel as a whole,
proportionate to their respective values.
(B)
The lien of taxes, penalties, interest, and special assessments, as
levied against the original tract, shall extend to the part so
transferred and the part remaining only to the extent of the amounts
so allocated to the respective parts.
This
section does not change the total amount of taxes, special
assessments, or other charges as originally levied, or the total
amount of the balance due. The auditor shall certify such
apportionments to the county treasurer.
Whenever
the state acquires an entire parcel or a part only of a parcel of
real property in fee simple, the county auditor, upon application of
the grantor or property owner or the state, which application shall
contain a description of the property as it appears on the tax list
and the date of transfer of ownership, shall prepare an estimate of
the taxes that are a lien on the property, but have not been
determined, assessed, and levied for the year in which the property
was acquired. The county auditor shall thereupon apportion the
estimated taxes proportionately between the grantor and the state for
the period of the lien year that each had or shall have had ownership
or possession of the property, whichever is earlier. The county
treasurer shall accept payment from the state for estimated taxes at
the time that the real property is acquired. If the state has paid in
full in the year in which the property is acquired that proportion of
the estimated taxes that the tax commissioner determines are not
subject to remission by the county auditor for such year under
division (D) of section 5713.08 of the Revised Code, the estimated
taxes paid shall be considered the tax liability on the exempted
property for that year.
Section
319.42 of the Revised Code applies to the apportionment of special
assessments.
Complaint
against such values as determined by the auditor or the allocation of
assessments by the certifying authority may be filed by the
transferee or the remaining owner, and if filed, proceedings
including appeals shall be had in the manner and within the time
provided by sections 5717.01 to 5717.06 and 5715.19 to 5715.22 of the
Revised Code, for complaints against valuation or assessment of real
property.
The
auditor shall endorse on the deed or other evidences of title
presented to the auditor that the proper transfer of the real estate
described in the deed has been made in the auditor's office or that
it is not entered for taxation, and sign the auditor's name to the
deed. The address of the grantee, or any one of the grantees, set
forth in the deed or other evidences of title shall be entered by the
auditor on the transfer sheets and on the general tax list of real
property prepared pursuant to section 319.28 of the Revised Code.
Sec.
319.204.
Upon
transfer of a lot or tract of real estate, in whole or in part to a
person other than the grantor of the lot or tract, the grantor shall
pay, and the treasurer shall accept, all delinquent taxes, as that
term is defined in section 323.01 of the Revised Code, charged and
payable at the time of transfer.
This
section does not apply to any transfer of a lot or tract when any of
the following apply:
(A)
The state or a political subdivision is the grantee or grantor.
(B)
The transfer is made by deed in lieu of foreclosure.
(C)
The transfer is made pursuant to a court order, including an order
issued by a probate court.
(D)
The transfer is made in connection with a settlement.
(E)
The transfer is made pursuant to a transfer on death designation
affidavit as defined in section 5302.22 of the Revised Code.
(F)
The transfer is made pursuant to a certificate of transfer issued
under section 2113.61 of the Revised Code.
(G)
The transfer is made by a settlor to a trustee as part of a
pre-existing trust.
(H)
The transfer is made in accordance with a statement contained in an
affidavit required by section 317.22 of the Revised Code.
(I)
The transfer is made by an individual to the grantor and one or more
other individuals and results in a survivorship tenancy.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 317.22
and
319.20 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section
3.
The
amendment or enactment by this act of sections 317.22, 319.20, and
319.204 of the Revised Code applies to transfers, in whole or in
part, of tracts or lots of real estate occurring on or after the
effective date of this section.