Sheriff Sales Unit

State law provides a foreclosure process by which lenders, other lien holders, and even the County Treasurer can force the sale of real estate property in order to satisfy judgements obtained against debtors who have failed to meet their financial obligations. The Sheriff’s Office plays a substantial role in that process, and the Sheriff has delegated responsibility in those efforts to the Sheriff Sales Unit, consisting of Civil Administrative Specialist Monte Mayer and Administrative Clerical Specialist Bobbie Benton and Paralegal Sherry Buchheim. The unit is supervised by Sgt. Kim Peters.

In 2017, the Sheriff Sales Unit processed 989 court-issued Orders of Sale, and sold 606 properties at sales. The remaining 383 cases were either withdrawn by the Plaintiffs prior to the sale, or the properties received no bids at the time of auction.

The Foreclosure Process

The Sheriff’s Office involvement in the foreclosure process begins when a Common Pleas Court issues a formal “Order of Sale.” If the foreclosure is not a result of non-payment of real estate taxes, the order typically directs that the property be appraised. An appraisal team, duly appointed and sworn by the Sheriff in accordance with the Ohio Revised Code, conducts the appraisal, and files a notice of their action and valuation back to the court. Foreclosure actions for non-payment of real estate taxes, and some general foreclosures subject to certain court orders, do not require appraisals.

Sale dates are then established, and state law requires that the property be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation within the County for a period of three (3) weeks prior to the scheduled auction sale date. All sales conducted by the Sheriff’s Office are advertised in the Hamilton and/or Middletown Journal News on Sundays well in advance of the sale date. Additionally, information on upcoming sales, as well as results of past sales, can be found on the Sheriff’s website by clicking on the link here.

Prior to the advertised auction sale date/time, the plaintiff (the party who initiated the action) can withdraw the property from the sale for a variety of reasons. The most common reasons for a withdrawal include a delinquent debtor paying past due arrearages, modifying a loan, filing for bankruptcy, granting a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, or the completion of a “short sale.” Additionally, Ohio law provides specific circumstances and procedures under which a person subject to the foreclosure sale action might have a legal right to redeem their property even after a property is sold at auction.