Land contract/late payments/ forced place insurance/code violations

[Gary Campanaro]

Hi BP Friends:   I have a contract for deed or land contract on a property in Canton, Ohio. The tenant is very late in his contract payments only paid 5 payments in 2025 and no payments yet is 2026. He has been very sporadic with payments since 2014 and is effectively one year late on payments.

He has taxes coming due in March,2026. He failed to pay on his property insurance so I had to purchase forced placed insurance on the property. 

He has multiple code violations that need to be remedied by March 10, 2026. He said he would get me pictures of the remedied violations which I still have not received.  

My understanding is that if the contract is over 5 years old in Ohio is that I have to go through the forclosure process.  

Any suggestions on how I should proceed with this individual?

[Chad U.]

Quote from @Gary Campanaro:

Hi BP Friends:   I have a contract for deed or land contract on a property in Canton, Ohio. The tenant is very late in his contract payments only paid 5 payments in 2025 and no payments yet is 2026. He has been very sporadic with payments since 2014 and is effectively one year late on payments.

He has taxes coming due in March,2026. He failed to pay on his property insurance so I had to purchase forced placed insurance on the property. 

He has multiple code violations that need to be remedied by March 10, 2026. He said he would get me pictures of the remedied violations which I still have not received.  

My understanding is that if the contract is over 5 years old in Ohio is that I have to go through the forclosure process.  

Any suggestions on how I should proceed with this individual?

Welcome to the wild world of Land Contracts. Hire an attorney and start the foreclosure process immediately.  You'd be surprised how some borrowers react once they start getting legal notices sent by registered mail to them.