Lien Forward Ohio has joined forces with The Communicator, the official web site of Mahoning County government, to inform local residents about our program and services.
As a regional council of governments, Lien Forward Ohio is a partnership between the City of Youngstown and Mahoning County. Lien Forward Ohio was created to find productive uses for vacant, abandoned, tax delinquent land. It’s a problem not only in Youngstown, but also in surrounding communities and the southwest part of the county.
Unused, neglected lots are neighborhood eyesores. If they become health and safety risks because of high grass or illegal dumping, local governments are forced to spend money on cleaning up and securing these properties. When property taxes aren’t paid, schools and other agencies in that district lose revenue.
Lien Forward Ohio works with the Mahoning County Treasurer’s Office to give interested parties the tools to acquire vacant lots. The County Treasurer sells packages of tax liens – not properties, but the tax debt on properties – to investors. Lien Forward Ohio helps interested parties to purchase individual tax liens, which makes them stakeholders in those properties. Tax lien holders thus have more negotiating power in the land acquisition process.
Thanks to ongoing financial support from County Treasurer, Lisa Antonini, and, more recently, Youngstown City Council, Lien Forward Ohio also has a property acquisition fund to help qualified parties afford the legal costs associated with land acquisition, such as title searches and attorneys’ fees.
“Based on the number of people who already have contacted Lien Forward Ohio for help, it’s clear that many people still have pride in this community,” Antonini said. “Lien Forward Ohio empowers people to improve their properties and neighborhoods by turning vacant lots into well-kept yards, beautiful gardens, play spaces for children and more. That’s why I support this program.”
If you live next door to an empty lot that you would like to own,
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Call Lien Forward Ohio at (330) 259-1040. We’ll find out if tax liens are available for you to purchase.
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Lien Forward Ohio also works with not-for-profit organizations that have good uses for vacant land. Recent and current clients include Habitat for Humanity, Hope for Youngstown, Potential Development, Hope House and many churches.
Lien Forward Ohio thanks County Auditor, Michael V. Sciortino; Jacob A. Williams, the county’s Director of Information Technology; and Technical Trainer and Web Site Administrator, Pamela Myers for their support and efforts in establishing Lien Forward Ohio’s web site. Our website can also be accessed by typing http://www.lienforwardohio.org/.