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A scooped-up side lot and the riverfront parcel that mysteriously got away: How rules written for distressed  ‘Rust Belt’ property may benefit a select few

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This project provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join Eye on Ohio's free mailing list as this helps provide more public service reporting to your community. On May 12, 2021, Chris and Angela Powers submitted a $4,000 bid for a Lawrence County Land Bank property. 

It was above the Auditor’s appraised value of $3,340. But the Powers really loved the riverfront site. The owner of an adjoining property had let them camp right next to it for years. 

So they bid for the wooded parcel, on the northern bank of the Ohio River, as well as an adjoining parcel - not on the river, but just behind it. 

The Powers attended a May 18, 2021 land bank meeting.

AI

How do public officials make Land Bank decisions? Artificial Intelligence may seek patterns

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Al Jenkins outside of his Cleveland home. This project was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join Eye on Ohio's free mailing list as this helps provide more public service reporting to the community. Al Jenkins has what neighbors called “the nicest house on the block.” The renovated historic structure has fresh gray paint and manicured landscaping. A side lawn looks like it also is his.

AI

Sidebar: What is Artificial Intelligence and why use it to look at public records?

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This project was funded by a grant from the Pulitzer Center and provided by Eye on Ohio, the nonprofit, nonpartisan Ohio Center for Journalism. Please join the free mailing list for Eye on Ohio as this helps provide more public-service reporting. Meredith Broussard notes in her book, “Artificial Unintelligence,” that “AI” is a bit of a misnomer. True artificial intelligence means computers have finally achieved consciousness. Scientists are a long way away - if that is even possible. 

Why then has “artificial intelligence” become ubiquitous?  Major companies and the state of Ohio refer to AI as vital to speech recognition, self-driving cars and web searches.

entity sales

How Much are you Overpaying in Property Tax?

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Commercial Property Sales Loophole Costs Small Business Owners Thousands

This investigation made possible via a grant from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. 

When Palmer Square, LLC recently wanted to sell their apartment building at 4121 Palmer Park Circle East in Columbus, they went through all the usual hoops that most homeowners are familiar with: they executed a purchase contract with the buyer, Manhattan Real Estate Partners, LLC, they ordered an inspection, and they obtained title insurance. 

But selling the property outright would have cost $65,000 in conveyance fee taxes, and annual property tax would bump up an additional $309,000 dollars per year, with the property now valued at the agreed to purchase price of $35.25 million instead of the auditor’s value of $24.5 million. So instead, Palmer Square formed Palmer House Borrower, LLC. That new business received the property at 4121 Palmer Park Circle and its mortgage. Then they technically sold the business, and not the property. Conveyance tax due to Franklin County: $0. 

Palmer Square is one of hundreds of such property deals taking place throughout the state of Ohio every year, and they are legal.