How to check title before buying at a Dayton, OH sheriff's sale
Before bidding at the Dayton (Montgomery County) sheriff's sale, search the Montgomery County Recorder for mortgages, liens and lis pendens on the property: the sale list says what the Montgomery County Sheriff is selling, not what is recorded against it. A HeritageDeed report does this for one address in Dayton: $49, usually within minutes, with the source of every finding.
Step by step in Dayton
- 1
Find the property on the list
The Montgomery County Sheriff publishes the sheriff's sale list (mortgage foreclosures and treasurer's tax sales) with each property's sale date and minimum bid.
- 2
Search what is recorded
Search the Montgomery County Recorder for mortgages, liens and lis pendens against the property and its owner.
- 3
Know what survives the sale
Check which liens the sale clears and which stay with the property.
- 4
Or order the report
A HeritageDeed report runs these searches for one Dayton address and lists every finding with its source, $49, usually within minutes.
What Dayton records show
A mortgage takes effect when it is delivered to the recorder for record, and the first mortgage recorded has preference (R.C. 5301.23).
Within ninety days after a mortgage is satisfied, the mortgagee must record a release of it with the county recorder (R.C. 5301.36), so a mortgage with no recorded release is still of record.
A court judgment becomes a lien on a debtor's land in a county when a certificate of judgment is filed with the clerk of the court of common pleas of that county (R.C. 2329.02), not with the recorder.
The Montgomery County Recorder's records name most documents' lot with its municipality or subdivision, and a release cites the mortgage it releases.
Dayton properties on the list now
89 properties with a street address are on the sheriff's sale list (mortgage foreclosures and treasurer's tax sales) for upcoming sales, the next on Nov 5, 2026. Each has its own page with the sale facts and a title check:
- 226 Volkenand Avenue, Dayton, OH 45410Nov 5, 2026
- 607 Dearborn Ave, Dayton, OH 45417Nov 5, 2026
- 5170 Derby Road, Dayton, OH 45417Nov 5, 2026
- 334 Lawncrest Avenue, Dayton, OH 45427Nov 5, 2026
- 1550 Leah Drive, Dayton, OH 45417Nov 5, 2026
- 2433 Grant Avenue, Dayton, OH 45406Nov 5, 2026
- 637 Mia Avenue, Dayton, OH 45417Nov 5, 2026
- 105 South Woodward Ave, Dayton, OH 45417Nov 5, 2026
The whole list: Montgomery County sheriff's sale list (mortgage foreclosures and treasurer's tax sales).
A real Dayton report
We ran this search on the Montgomery County Courts Building (41 N Perry St, Dayton, OH 45402): 0 deeds, 0 open mortgages, 0 recorded liens. See the Dayton sample report.
What the report checks in Dayton
- Owner of record, situs address, municipality, subdivision and lot from the county's tax-map parcel records
- Deeds, mortgages with their recorded amounts, releases, assignments, county tax lien certificates and other liens recorded with the Montgomery County Recorder for this parcel's lot and place
- Each mortgage's release, matched by the release's own reference to it
Not covered here
- The Recorder's UCC (fixture filing) records, judgment liens (certificates of judgment filed with the Clerk of Courts), values and delinquent property taxes are not searched.
Questions
Are judgments recorded with the Montgomery County Recorder in Dayton?
A court judgment becomes a lien on a debtor's land in a county when a certificate of judgment is filed with the clerk of the court of common pleas of that county (R.C. 2329.02), not with the recorder.
What does a HeritageDeed search in Dayton not cover?
The Recorder's electronic records begin in 1980; older documents may need an in-office search.
Is this title insurance?
No. It is a search of the public record for one Dayton property. A lender closing a loan will still require a title insurance commitment from a licensed insurer.
More about Dayton property records
- Check for liens
- Find the owner
- Search deeds
- Check for a loan
- Property taxes
- Title search cost
- Dayton title search guide
Check the title of a Dayton property
AI title search, $49 per report. Usually ready in about a minute. Full refund if we can't deliver.