Bolon v. Bowers, 2022 Ohio 2648

Appellee (Columbiana County Treasurer Linda Bolon) sued Alan Bowers for delinquent property taxes on a Salineville property and listed two P.O. box addresses in the complaint; mailed notices to those addresses were returned undelivered.
After the mailed notices failed, the clerk caused notice by publication in the Farm and Dairy; Bowers did not answer and the court entered default judgment, foreclosed the property, and authorized sale and a writ of possession.
Bowers moved to vacate, claiming he was never properly served and that he had actual, ascertainable addresses (his rural street address on his driver’s license and a P.O. box he used on a money order for a different parcel), so publication-only service was constitutionally inadequate.
The treasurer submitted affidavits showing certified/ordinary mail to the last known addresses returned, and that searches of county records, phone books, and internet were made before resorting to publication.
The trial court denied relief, citing R.C. 323.13 (taxpayer’s duty to notify treasurer in writing of mailing-address changes) and finding the treasurer complied with R.C. 5721.18 service procedures; this appeal followed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Bolon)	Defendant's Argument (Bowers)	Held
Whether service by publication (after mailed notices returned) satisfied due process / was reasonably diligent	Bolon followed R.C. 5721.18: mailed to last known addresses, searched records and internet, then published; statutory procedure satisfied; no obligation to do more	Publication was constitutionally inadequate because treasurer could have ascertained Bowers’ street address (driver’s license) and P.O. box (money order) with reasonable diligence	Court held service met statutory requirements and was reasonably calculated to give notice; denied vacatur and affirmed
Whether a money order (showing a different P.O. box on payment for another parcel) constituted written notice to change tax mailing address under R.C. 323.13	Treasurer: receiving a payment with a return address does not constitute the statutorily required written change of tax-bill mailing address for a different parcel; office receives thousands of payments	Bowers: listing P.O. Box 0141 on a money order paid to the treasurer gave appellee actual notice of his mailing address	Court held R.C. 323.13 places burden on taxpayer to give written notice of address change; the money order did not satisfy that requirement; Bowers failed to comply and cannot fault treasurer

Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217 (Ohio 1983) (abuse-of-discretion standard for appellate review of discretionary rulings)
In re Foreclosure of Liens for Delinquent Taxes, 62 Ohio St.2d 333 (Ohio 1980) (due-process notice must be reasonably calculated to inform property owner; statutory publication procedures satisfy notice when followed)