Montgomery County's Clerk of Courts publishes something rare in Ohio: a monthly report of every new mortgage and tax foreclosure case. On top of that, the City of Dayton graded the condition of its housing in a 2025 survey. Propertiz loads every parcel and owner from the Montgomery County Auditor, about 273,000 parcels, matches both sources to them, and ranks the owners in Dayton and the rest of the county who may have a reason to sell. Here is what's on the Montgomery County page today and what isn't yet.
New foreclosure filings from the Clerk's monthly report
Ohio forecloses through the courts, and the first public record is the complaint filed in the Court of Common Pleas. A lis pendens attaches when the case is filed, and no separate notice has to be recorded. Montgomery County's Clerk of Courts publishes a report of every new foreclosure complaint, replaced each month with the cases filed the month before. Each entry has the case number, the plaintiff and first defendant, the filing date, the docket text and, for about half of them, the property address.
Propertiz turns each complaint into a first-stage foreclosure signal. It matches the case to a parcel by the property address, or by the defendant's name when the report has no address. A new filing counts most and fades as it ages. Because the report is monthly, a case filed early in a month appears after that month ends, still many months before any sale: Ohio cases typically take 9 to 18 months from filing to sale.
The report covers two kinds of case:
- Mortgage foreclosures, filed by a lender.
- Tax foreclosures, filed by the County Treasurer or by a tax-certificate holder.
A tax foreclosure in court is a later stage of unpaid taxes, so Dayton leads can show tax trouble even though the Treasurer's delinquent balances aren't included. Our guide to Ohio foreclosure and tax delinquency explains the decree, appraisal and sheriff sale that follow a complaint.
Dayton's housing-condition survey
The City of Dayton's 2025 housing-condition survey graded each structure from 1 (sound) to 5 (dilapidated), with records dated November 2025 to May 2026. It also recorded whether a building was occupied, vacant and boarded, vacant and secure, too damaged to board, or demolished. Propertiz turns the survey into code signals:
- a parcel whose worst structure is graded 3 or worse (major repair, rehabilitation or dilapidated), or
- a parcel with a vacant structure,
gets one open code signal, matched by the Auditor's parcel number and dated by its survey record. Like any code signal, its weight fades as it ages. The survey isn't a running case file, so a repair made after the inspection won't show until the city updates it.
A deteriorated house on its own doesn't make a seller. A grade-4 house with an owner in another state, or a vacant house with a new foreclosure filing, is a different story, and the score reflects that.
Parcels and owners
The Auditor's roll has the owner, the owner's own address and the tax-bill address, the site address, land use, appraised and assessed values, the last sale, and bedrooms, baths, square footage and year built. Ohio's homestead exemption on the roll is for seniors and disabled owners, so a parcel without it can still be owner-occupied, and Propertiz doesn't count a missing exemption against the owner.
What isn't in Montgomery County yet
- Unpaid property taxes. The Treasurer's website sits behind a bot check, so its balances aren't read. Tax foreclosure filings are included.
- Sheriff sale dates.
- Code cases outside the City of Dayton.
- Probate filings.
- Evictions.
How Dayton leads are ranked
The rules are the same in every Propertiz county. A lead needs at least one active distress signal: a foreclosure filing or a housing-condition signal. Owner traits from the Auditor's roll then add points, such as an absentee or out-of-state owner, long ownership and high estimated equity.
Every lead is underwritten as a long-term rental with an equity estimate, a HUD market rent and a DSCR at your purchase price. Ohio taxes the county auditor's value, and a sale can trigger a new appraisal, so today's bill can understate a new owner's. Check your own terms with the DSCR calculator.
Working Montgomery County leads
All data is public under Ohio's Public Records Act (R.C. 149.43). Contact owners respectfully. Mail first; follow federal rules (TCPA, Do Not Call) and Ohio's telephone-solicitation law (R.C. Chapter 4719) for calls and texts. No leaseback or "save your home" offers to owners in foreclosure. If you assign contracts, Ohio requires a written wholesaler disclosure to the seller.
See the other Ohio counties on the Ohio coverage page.