Your property taxes. Your name. A company in Texas you’ve never heard of. That’s the chain of events that’s already playing out for thousands of Cuyahoga County homeowners in 2026 — and if you haven’t been paying attention, the window to do something about it is closing faster than most people realize.
Cuyahoga County Council voted 10-1 in May to approve the sale of tax liens on 3,341 residential and commercial properties, representing roughly $29.5 million in unpaid taxes, to a third-party debt collector called NAR Solutions. The sale was structured so that the county collects what it’s owed upfront — for schools, roads, municipalities — and NAR Solutions takes over the job of collecting from property owners, with interest.
If your parcel is on that list, this article is about what that actually means for your home, your credit, and your options before the process hardens into something much harder to escape.
What most people get wrong about a tax lien sale
The first thing to understand is what the county sold and what it didn’t. The Cuyahoga County Treasurer’s Office is not selling the underlying property — only the right to collect delinquent taxes. The tax lien certificate purchaser pays the county the entire amount of the delinquency. The taxpayer is then responsible for paying the lien amount and applicable interest to the purchaser.
That distinction matters enormously. You still own your home. Nobody is showing up with a moving truck. But a private company now holds a legal claim against it — recorded with the County Fiscal Office’s Transfer and Recording Department — and that claim carries consequences if you ignore it.
If the lien is not redeemed within twelve months, the tax lien certificate purchaser may file a foreclosure action. Twelve months sounds like plenty of time. It isn’t, if you’re waiting for something to resolve itself.
How the 2026 sale happened — and why some homeowners are surprised to be on the list
County Treasurer Brad Cromes told cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer that the number of properties on the sale list grew significantly — from roughly 2,400 parcels and $24 million — partly because of new defaults from early 2026, and partly because some homes that were previously thought to be protected under the county’s Homestead Exemption no longer qualify.
That second category is worth pausing on. Homeowners who believed they were shielded by the Homestead Exemption — Ohio’s main property tax relief program for lower-income seniors and disabled residents — found themselves on the lien list anyway. In some cases, that’s because they lost eligibility. In others, the exemption covered current taxes but didn’t erase a prior-year delinquency that had been accruing the whole time.
The county’s delinquency interest rate is 12% per year, applied in two tranches: 9% interest is charged on prior year unpaid balances starting September 1, and an additional 3% is charged on current and prior year unpaid balances starting December 1. A bill that sat ignored for two years didn’t stay the same size. It grew.
What NAR Solutions will actually do with your debt
The county required NAR Solutions to offer payment plans and charge 6% simple interest for homeowners and 11% for other property owners — terms officials described as better than typical collection rates and designed to give owners a real chance to get caught up.
Dawn Hoosier from NAR Solutions told council that in the company’s history, roughly 76% of liens have been resolved quickly without legal action. The remaining 24% may enter foreclosure proceedings, but only about 2% of those ultimately result in a property sale. “If someone is engaged with us, they are not going to lose their property,” Hoosier said.
That framing cuts both ways. The encouraging news is that the company isn’t in the business of seizing houses — that’s expensive and slow. The harder news is that “engaged” is doing a lot of work in that sentence. Ignoring NAR Solutions after the lien is sold puts you in the 24% that enters foreclosure proceedings.
Under Ohio Revised Code Section 5721.38, the property owner has the right to enter into a “Redemption Payment Plan” beginning on the date the tax certificate is sold and ending on the date a decree is rendered through foreclosure proceedings. The right expires. Act before a judge enters a decree, not after.
The timeline you need to understand
Here’s the sequence, condensed:
When the lien is sold: NAR Solutions pays the county the full delinquency. A lien is recorded against your property at the County Fiscal Office. You still owe current taxes to the county on top of what you now owe NAR.
Month 1–12: You can redeem the lien (pay it off in full) or enter a Redemption Payment Plan with NAR Solutions. NAR will maintain a dedicated website and phone number for residents to access account information, which will also be posted on the county treasurer’s website. Contact them at 866-960-0067 or narohiopayoffs@narsolutions.net.
After 12 months without payment: NAR Solutions may file a foreclosure action in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
At any point before foreclosure is confirmed: The property owner may redeem the tax lien certificate by providing payment via cash, money order, or cashier’s check — covering the lien amount plus any applicable additional charges and costs.
One more thing the county’s own policy makes explicit: properties with unexpired outstanding tax lien certificates sold under ORC 5721.32 or 5721.33 are ineligible for delinquent tax payment contracts on balances owed to the County Treasury. Once your lien is sold, you can’t go back to the county treasurer’s payment plan on that delinquency. Your negotiation is now with NAR Solutions.
How to get off the list before the sale closes
If your property is on the lien list and the sale hasn’t completed, you still have a path directly back to the county. To avoid the sale of a tax lien certificate, you must either pay your taxes in full or enter into a delinquent tax payment plan with the Cuyahoga County Treasurer’s Office. Call the Taxpayer Services Division at 216-443-7400 Option 1.
The county’s delinquency page also lists a program worth knowing about: relief for residents 67 years and older who make less than $70,000 per year with tax delinquencies. If you or a co-owner of the property falls into that category, call the treasurer’s office before assuming a payment plan is your only option.
For homeowners who can’t pay the full balance in one shot, the county’s payment plans require certified funds for any parcel already in foreclosure or tax lien status. Bring a cashier’s check or money order to 2079 East 9th Street, Cleveland, OH 44115 — personal checks aren’t accepted at that stage.
What happens to your second-half 2026 bill in the meantime
This is the part people miss. Residents must continue to pay their current property taxes to the county even after a lien is sold, including the second half of 2025 taxes due in July. Those bills were mailed around July 13, 2026, and are due August 13, 2026.
Missing that deadline adds a 10% late penalty to your current bill — a separate problem stacking on top of the lien you’re already trying to resolve. Online payments are not accepted for parcels in foreclosure, bankruptcy, or with a tax lien status. If your parcel has been flagged, call 216-443-7420 before trying to pay online — you’ll need to pay by check or certified funds in person or by mail.
The math on inaction is punishing. The 2024 sexennial reappraisal raised average property values in Cuyahoga County by 32.22%, meaning current-year bills are already higher than many homeowners budgeted for. Adding a 10% late penalty on the second-half bill, a 12% annual delinquency rate on any prior balance, and a private lien holder’s 6% simple interest on top of that turns a manageable shortfall into a compounding crisis.
If your name is on the lien sale list or you’re worried it might be, the single most useful thing you can do today is call 216-443-7400, Option 1, and find out exactly where your account stands. The county has discretion to remove parcels from the sale list. NAR Solutions has stated it prefers resolution to foreclosure. Both of those facts are useless if you’re waiting for someone to come to you.