Franklin County Owner Occupancy Credit: Who Qualifies and What Changed in 2026

What the Franklin County owner occupancy credit is

The owner occupancy credit (the Auditor’s forms call it the Owner Occupied Reduction) is one of Ohio’s two “rollback” credits. It reduces the tax on qualifying levies for homes their owners live in. It shows up as a credit line on your tax bill, and it’s calculated automatically once you’re approved.

The credit applies only to qualifying levies. The Auditor’s Tax Reduction Programs page says it applies to tax levies passed during or before the November 2013 general election. New and replacement levies approved at elections in or after November 2013 don’t receive it, though renewals of older levies generally do.

You may see it called the owner-occupied credit, the owner occupancy reduction or, from its original rate, the 2.5% rollback. They’re all the same credit, now rising under House Bill 186.

How House Bill 186 changes the credit

House Bill 186, signed in December 2025 and effective March 2026, raises the owner occupancy credit over four years and, at the same time, phases out the 10% nonbusiness credit on residential property. The net effect: owner-occupied homes gain, and rentals lose their rollback entirely.

Non-timber agricultural land keeps the full 10% nonbusiness credit. The Ohio Legislative Service Commission summarizes the combined effect as increasing the total credit for owner-occupied property from 12.5% to 15.38%.

Who qualifies

Under Ohio’s definition of a homestead, the credit covers the dwelling and the land around it up to one acre. County auditors across Ohio describe the same rules; Greene County’s summary also notes exclusions for corporate- or partnership-owned homes and for manufactured homes taxed under the depreciation method. If your home is held in a trust or LLC, ask the Auditor before you apply.

How to apply

1. Get form DTE 105C (Application for Owner-Occupancy Reduction on real property) from the Auditor’s Form Center. For a manufactured or mobile home taxed like real property, use DTE 56. See our forms guide.
2. Confirm your dates. You must have owned and lived in the home on January 1 of the tax year you’re applying for.
3. File by December 31 of that year. Ohio law sets December 31 as the deadline for original, subsequent and late applications for the year the reduction is sought.
4. Check your record. After approval, the credit appears in the Tax tab of your parcel in the property search and on your tax bill.

If you just bought your home

This is where most people miss the credit. It belongs to the owner, not the house, so it doesn’t carry over from the seller. And because eligibility is fixed on January 1:

Put a reminder on your calendar after closing. Our transfers guide lists other things to do after you buy.

How to tell if you already have it

Open your parcel in the Auditor’s property search and check the Tax tab, or look at the credits section of your tax bill. If you live in the home and see only the nonbusiness credit, you probably haven’t applied. Call the Auditor at 614-525-4663 to confirm.

When you must give it up, and penalties

You must tell the Auditor when you no longer qualify, for example after moving out and renting the home. Ohio Revised Code 323.153 imposes penalties when owners don’t notify the auditor of a disqualifying change, and a conviction for willfully falsifying information to get a reduction bars the person from the reduction for three years.

The Auditor’s Form Center includes a “Request Owner Occupied Credit Removal / Report Rental Registration Non-Compliance” form for removing the credit. Owners of rentals must also register them with the Auditor.

What the changes mean for landlords and renters

Non-owner-occupied residential property loses the 10% nonbusiness credit in steps: 7.5% for tax year 2026, 5% for 2027, 2.5% for 2028 and none for 2029. Landlords’ tax bills rise as a result. Auditor Michael Stinziano warned before the bill passed that eliminating the credit for rental properties could hurt renters if landlords pass the higher costs along.

Does your situation qualify?

Worked example: how much the credit is worth

The credit is a percentage of the tax from qualifying levies (those approved before November 2013, and their renewals). If, for illustration, $2,000 of your tax comes from qualifying levies:

• At the old 2.5% rate, the owner occupancy credit would be $50.
• At 5.70% for tax year 2026, it becomes $114.
• At 15.38% by tax year 2029, it becomes $307.60, while the 10% nonbusiness credit on the same $2,000 (worth $200 before) phases to zero.

So the combined credit on that $2,000 goes from $250 to $307.60. Your actual numbers depend on your levies; the Auditor’s own example for the Columbus Dispatch showed a $350,000 home’s credit growing from $581 to $715.

New buyer checklist

1. Mark January 1. Once you’ve owned and lived in the home on a January 1, you can claim that tax year.
2. File DTE 105C by December 31 of that year.
3. Check the next bill for the owner occupancy credit line.
4. If you’re 65 or older or disabled, also look at the Homestead Exemption.
5. Keep your mailing address current with the Treasurer so you see the bills. See the tax bill guide.

Condos and manufactured homes

Condominium owners who live in their unit qualify the same way as other homeowners, using DTE 105C for the unit’s parcel. Owners of manufactured or mobile homes taxed like real property use form DTE 56 instead. Manufactured homes taxed under the depreciation method are excluded, according to county auditor guidance. Questions about manufactured homes go to the Auditor’s Manufactured Homes counter on the 20th floor.

What House Bill 186 doesn’t change

• You still have to apply. The larger credit only helps owners who have filed DTE 105C.
• Newer levies are still excluded. New and replacement levies approved in or after November 2013 don’t get rollback credits.
• Homestead is separate. Its $29,000 and $58,000 exemptions and income rules are unchanged by the credit schedule.
• Your appraised value isn’t affected. Credits reduce the tax, not the value.

For the full list of 2025 reforms, see the property tax guide.

Why Ohio has rollback credits

The nonbusiness and owner occupancy credits are state-funded tax cuts that were built into Ohio’s property tax system decades ago to ease the burden on homeowners and farms. In 2013, the state stopped extending them to new and replacement levies approved from the November 2013 election onward, which is why the Auditor notes that the owner occupied reduction applies only to levies passed in or before that election. House Bill 186 is the first major reshuffle since: it shifts the residential rollback away from rentals and toward homes their owners live in.

The three credits side by side

If you inherit a home and move in

The credit is tied to the owner and to occupancy on January 1. If you inherit a home, the credit on the previous owner’s record doesn’t continue for you automatically. Once the deed is in your name and you’ve lived there on a January 1, apply for that tax year by December 31. Our transfers guide covers how deeds change after a death.

Common owner occupancy credit mistakes

1. Not applying after buying. The single most common miss.
2. Applying for the wrong year. You must have owned and occupied the home on January 1 of the tax year.
3. Keeping it on a former home. Moving out and renting the home ends eligibility; report it.
4. Claiming two homes. Generally, you and your spouse can receive it on only one home.
5. Assuming Homestead covers it. They’re separate programs with separate forms.
6. Missing December 31. The deadline for the tax year.

Confirming the credit on your bill

Look at the credits section of your tax bill or the Tax tab on your parcel in the property search. You should see both the nonbusiness credit and the owner occupancy credit while the nonbusiness credit phases down, and only the owner occupancy credit by tax year 2029. If the owner occupancy line is missing on a home you live in, apply. The tax bill guide explains other bill sections.

If you’re selling your home

• Your owner occupancy credit ends with your ownership and occupancy; it doesn’t pass to the buyer.
• Tell your buyer the credit must be applied for; it’s one of the most-missed savings after a purchase.
• If you move out before selling and rent the home, notify the Auditor so the credit is removed.
• If you also receive Homestead, you file DTE 101 at sale, and the conveyance fee drops to $1 per $1,000. See the transfers guide.

Married couples and separate homes

Generally, a married couple can receive the owner occupancy credit on only one home in Ohio. County auditor guidance notes an exception where spouses are separately domiciled. If you and your spouse live in different homes you each own, ask the Auditor how the rule applies before you apply for both.

When each increase reaches your bill

For how these credits fit into the whole bill, see tax rates.

The 2026 value update and your credit

Because the owner occupancy credit is a percentage of the tax on qualifying levies, its dollar amount moves with your tax. For tax year 2026, two things change at once: the percentage rises to 5.70%, and your value may change with the 2026 update. The credit doesn’t change your appraised value. If you think the value is too high, that’s a separate question for the Board of Revision.

Quick checklist for owner-occupants

• Owned and lived in the home on January 1 of the tax year? You’re eligible for that year.
• See the credit on your bill? If not, file DTE 105C by December 31.
• 65 or older, disabled, or a 100% disabled veteran? Check Homestead too.
• Moving out or renting the home? Notify the Auditor.
• Selling? Tell your buyer they must apply for their own credit.

Get DTE 105C from the forms guide.

Owner occupancy credit vs. Homestead Exemption

See the Homestead Exemption guide for eligibility details.

If you’re denied or the credit is removed

File form DTE 106B, the Homestead Exemption and Owner-Occupancy Reduction Complaint, with the Board of Revision. The Board of Revision guide has contact details and filing methods.

Owner occupancy credit at a glance

Newly built homes

If you build or buy a new home and move in during the year, you become eligible for the owner occupancy credit for the next tax year, the first January 1 you own and occupy it. File DTE 105C by December 31 of that year. Newly built homes can also carry abatements; check the Incentives tab on your record.

Checking whether you missed past years

Look at the credits on your recent tax bills or the Tax tab. If you’ve lived in your home for years without the owner occupancy credit, file DTE 105C now, since the deadline is December 31 of the year sought. Ask the Auditor at 614-525-4663 about your situation.

Moving back into a former rental

If you rented a home out and then move back in, it can qualify again. What matters is that you own it and live in it as your primary residence on January 1 of the tax year you’re applying for; then file DTE 105C with the Auditor by December 31 of that year. The gap between the two situations is growing: under House Bill 186, a rental home’s nonbusiness credit falls to 7.5% for tax year 2026 and phases out by tax year 2029, while an owner-occupied home’s combined credit rises. The reverse applies too: if you move out and rent the home, tell the Auditor, since the credit ends when you no longer live there.

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