Closing Costs in Ohio 2026: Buyer & Seller Guide
Ohio deeds carry a county auditor’s conveyance fee of 10 cents per $100, which state law requires everywhere, plus a county transfer tax of up to 30 cents per $100 where commissioners have adopted one. By statute the seller (the grantor) pays both.
The conveyance fee: one mill by state law, up to three more by county vote
Under R.C. 319.54(G)(3) the auditor charges “one dollar, or ten cents for each one hundred dollars or fraction of one hundred dollars, whichever is greater,” of the value transferred. R.C. 322.02(A) then lets “any county” levy a real property transfer tax “at a rate not to exceed thirty cents per hundred dollars.” Commissioners adopt it by resolution after two public hearings. Unless it passes as an emergency measure, it is subject to referendum. The combined rate therefore depends on the county, up to 40 cents per $100 ($4 per $1,000). The current text of both sections has been in force since April 9, 2025. Under R.C. 715.013(A), no municipal corporation may levy a tax “the same as or similar to” the Chapter 322 tax, “except as otherwise expressly authorized by the Revised Code.”
What the auditor multiplies
R.C. 319.202(D) defines value as the “full consideration … including the amount of any mortgage or vendor’s lien thereon.” For the county tax only, R.C. 322.01(A)(1) excludes a mortgage “of record at least twelve months prior to the date of the conveyance and which is assumed by the purchaser.” The definition in 319.202(D) has no such exclusion.
The seller pays, the buyer files the form
R.C. 319.202(D) says: “The grantor shall pay the fee required by division (G)(3) of section 319.54” together with any county transfer tax. R.C. 322.02(A) says the same for the county tax: it “shall be levied upon the grantor named in the deed and shall be paid by the grantor,” before the deed goes to the recorder. The statement of value (DTE 100) falls to the other side: “the grantee or the grantee’s representative shall submit” it. The auditor also adds 50 cents per transfer, “to be paid by the person requiring it” (R.C. 319.54(G)(2)).
Deeds that skip the fee
R.C. 319.54(G)(3) lists 25 exemptions, (a) through (y). R.C. 322.01(D) keeps every one of them out of the county tax as well. Four that ordinary buyers and sellers run into:
- (b) a deed “solely in order to provide or release security for a debt or obligation”;
- (d) a gift “between husband and wife, or parent and child or the spouse of either”;
- (t) a deed into a trust whose grantor “has reserved an unlimited power to revoke the trust”;
- (k) a trade-in, where the owner’s occupied house is deeded to the builder of the new one.
An exempt deed still needs a statement giving the reason. Separately, R.C. 322.07(A) lets commissioners set a lower county rate for a homestead that receives the 323.152(A) tax reduction.
Franklin County at $3 per $1,000: a worked sale
The Franklin County Auditor breaks its $3 down as “a $1 per $1,000 fee set by the State of Ohio and a $2 per $1,000 fee set by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners, which last updated its fee in August of 2019.” If the grantor has the homestead exemption at the time of the transfer, the county’s $2 is waived.
| $250,000 sale | Franklin County | County at the 3-mill cap |
|---|---|---|
| R.C. 319.54(G)(3), 10 cents per $100 | $250 | $250 |
| R.C. 322.02 county tax | $500 | $750 |
| R.C. 319.54(G)(2) transfer fee | $0.50 | $0.50 |
| Total | $750.50 | $1,000.50 |
By statute the grantor pays the first two rows; the 50-cent transfer fee is ‘to be paid by the person requiring it’ (R.C. 319.54(G)(2)).
A price that is not a round hundred is rounded up (“fraction thereof”).
Recorder charges come from R.C. 317.32
R.C. 317.32(A)(1)(a) sets deed and mortgage recording at a $17 base fee plus a $17 housing trust fund fee for the first two pages, then $4 plus $4 for each additional page. That makes $34, then $8 a page, so a five-page mortgage comes to $58. Counties may add “a document preservation surcharge of up to five dollars.” Cuyahoga County lists “$39 for the first two pages and $8 for each page thereafter,” effective October 24, 2024.
Title premiums follow each insurer’s filing with the Superintendent
R.C. 3935.02 puts title insurance companies under Ohio’s rate-filing law. Each insurer files its manual with the Superintendent of Insurance, either directly or through a licensed rating bureau (membership is optional under 3935.04(B)). A filing sits for 30 days and “complies … unless it is disapproved by the superintendent within the waiting period” (3935.04(D)). Section 3935.04(J) then forbids any policy “except in accordance with the filings which are in effect,” with the exceptions in (F) to (H): suspension orders, a higher rate the insured requests in writing, and one-of-a-kind commercial forms.
No bank, trust company, lending institution, mortgage service, brokerage, mortgage guaranty company, escrow company or real estate company, no subsidiary of one, and no individual in those businesses may act as a title insurer’s agent (R.C. 3953.21(B)). A title company may not pay the parties or their agents “any commission … or any other consideration” for the business (R.C. 3953.26). Payments to an attorney for examining title are exempt, as is a commission to an attorney who is also that insurer’s licensed agent.
A title agent can hold the escrow; writing someone else’s deed is law practice
R.C. 3953.23(B) says “A title insurance agent may engage in the business of handling escrows of real property transactions,” provided the agent keeps separate records and does not commingle funds. In Toledo Bar Assn. v. Chelsea Title Agency of Dayton, Inc., 100 Ohio St.3d 356, 2003-Ohio-6453, a non-lawyer at a title agency had prepared a warranty deed and a quitclaim deed for customers. The Supreme Court of Ohio called this the unauthorized practice of law, enjoined the agency and fined it $1,000.
OHFA assistance: 3% or 3.5% of the price
OHFA Down Payment Assistance (read September 24, 2026) “allows homebuyers to choose 3% for conventional loans or 3.5% for government loans (FHA, VA, USDA).” The money can go toward closing costs. It “is forgiven after seven years,” and a sale before then means repaying all of it. Buyers need a credit score of at least 640, or 650 for FHA, and must meet income, price and debt-to-income limits and complete homebuyer education. Grants for Grads gives the same percentages to buyers with an associate’s or higher degree earned “within the last 18 months” who have not owned their primary residence in the last three years. There the assistance is forgiven after five years if the owner stays in Ohio.
Related pages
- Closing costs by state
- Ohio real estate guide
- Homeowner insurance guide for Ohio
- Kentucky closing costs, West Virginia closing costs, Indiana closing costs
- Down payment calculator
Ohio closing questions
Does the buyer pay the Ohio conveyance fee?
Not under the statutes: R.C. 319.202(D) and 322.02(A) both name the grantor. Read the conveyance-fee clause in your purchase contract.
Does Columbus add a city transfer tax?
R.C. 715.013(A) bars municipal look-alikes of the Chapter 322 tax unless the Revised Code expressly authorizes one. Franklin County’s total is $3 per $1,000.
Is my mortgage charged the conveyance fee?
No. R.C. 319.54(G)(3)(b) exempts a transfer “solely in order to provide or release security for a debt.” The mortgage pays the R.C. 317.32 recording fee.
I have the homestead exemption. Is my sale cheaper?
Only if your county adopted the lower rate that R.C. 322.07(A) allows. Franklin County, for one, waives its $2 per $1,000 for such a grantor.
Can the title company write my deed?
A non-lawyer there cannot. Chelsea Title (2003-Ohio-6453) treated that as the unauthorized practice of law.