The Escrow Follows You, the Licence Does Not
The distinction to hold on to out here, because owners generalise in both directions and get it wrong each way.
Section 3929.86 is state law and it reaches municipal corporations and townships alike. Where a fire loss hits sixty per cent of aggregate policy limits, the proceeds go to whichever subdivision the property sits in, held as security against removal, repair or securing under section 715.261 or section 505.86.
The vacated building maintenance licence, by contrast, is a Cincinnati ordinance. It applies inside the city and it does not travel. Other jurisdictions here have their own approaches to vacant and unsafe structures, and they are not the same. The full position is on our page covering the fire escrow.
So Who Is Holding My Money out Here?
A County of Many Jurisdictions
Hamilton County is divided into a large number of separate governments. Norwood, Cheviot, Blue Ash, Sharonville, Forest Park, Reading, St. Bernard, Elmwood Place, Deer Park and Madeira are among the municipalities. Green, Delhi, Colerain, Anderson, Springfield, Sycamore, Symmes and Miami are among the townships.
Each administers its own code enforcement, sets its own fees and designates its own officer for escrow purposes. A contractor who works constantly in the city may never have filed anywhere out here.
How Do I Confirm Which One I Am In?
We publish no permitting requirements, fees or vacant-structure rules for the individual suburbs and townships. There are far too many and they differ substantially, and each will quote its own position for your address.
Townships Work Differently From Cities
Worth understanding rather than assuming. Ohio townships are a distinct form of local government with their own trustees and their own powers, and section 505.86 is the township counterpart to the municipal cost recovery provision in section 715.261.
The practical consequence is usually lighter routine oversight than in the city, which sounds like an advantage and can become a discount later when a buyer or their lender finds little documentation of what was done.
Newer Stock, Different Structural Answer
Much of the suburban housing here is post-war and later, which means engineered roof trusses and floor systems. Once heat compromises the connections those come out whole rather than being repaired in sections, so a fire reaching the roof structure more often produces a rebuild than the same fire in older city stock.
Where a house sits on a slab, heat damage to it is invisible and is the largest unknown on the file. Where there is a basement, the structure can be inspected from beneath, which removes a good deal of that uncertainty.
The County in Context
Where larger houses sit on the city's western ridges, see our page about Westwood, College Hill and the hilltops. Where the oldest and most tightly attached stock sits, see our page for Over-the-Rhine and downtown.
The Numbers That Cross Every Boundary Here
Section 3929.86 dates from 1980, was amended in 1987, 1992 and 2015, and applies at 60 per cent of aggregate policy limits. Funds are held under section 715.261 by municipalities and section 505.86 by townships, and returned within 60 days of the required proof.
For the purposes of that section and section 3929.87, insurer includes the Ohio FAIR Plan Underwriting Association established under section 3929.43. The Cincinnati licence fees of $2,700 and $3,500 a year are city figures and do not apply outside it.
Suburb and Township Questions
Does the Escrow Apply in a Township?
Yes. The statute names townships alongside municipal corporations, and the township holds the fund through its own designated officer.
Do the Cincinnati Licence Fees Apply to Me?
No. That is a city ordinance. Your jurisdiction will have its own approach to vacant and unsafe structures and it is worth asking what it is.
Will You Buy Outside the City?
Yes, across the county's municipalities and townships. The jurisdiction affects the process and therefore the figure, and it does not stop us buying.