How to report a vacant or abandoned building
Report a vacant or abandoned building to Columbus 311, online or at (614) 645-3111. Say whether it is open to entry. An unsecured vacant structure is a priority for code enforcement. The city can order it boarded, cleaned, or in chronic cases demolished.
The full path
Report it to 311
File with Columbus 311 online, in the app, or at (614) 645-3111. Give the address, or the nearest address and a description if it has no visible number.
Say what makes it a hazard
Open doors or windows. People getting in. Fire damage. Trash piling up. Tall grass. Animals. The specifics decide how the city routes it, and open-to-entry is the phrase that moves a case fastest.
Active break-in or squatting is a police matter
If someone is inside right now and should not be, that is a police call, not a 311 report. File the 311 report too. The structure condition and the trespass are handled by different parts of the city.
What the city can do
Inspectors can order an owner to secure and maintain the property. Chronic vacant structures can be boarded by the city, sent to environmental court, or condemned. It moves slower than anyone wants, and every report adds to the record that moves it.
See the building’s report history
Vacant structures usually have a trail. Search the address to see what has already been reported there and nearby.
Free · no account · opens the live map's Block Report for the address
Common questions
How do I find out who owns an abandoned building?
Look the address up in the Franklin County Auditor’s public property search. Ownership, tax status, and mailing address are public records.
The house next door is abandoned and dragging the block down. Is that reportable?
Yes. Vacant-structure upkeep is enforceable whether or not anyone is inside. Report the conditions you can see from your property, from tall grass to open windows to dumping.
What about squatters in a vacant house?
Report the structure to 311 and call the police non-emergency line about the people. If you see signs of danger to anyone, call 911. Both records matter.
Keep going
Looking at a specific address?
Get the full Block Report, covering what's been reported at that exact address, the same building, and chronic neighbors within a third of a mile.
Search an address →Contacts on this page were verified July 2026. City intake numbers and portals change rarely but they do change. If something here is out of date, the front door is always Columbus 311.
Know Your Block is an independent public-information project, not the City of Columbus and not a law firm. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Report counts come from official City of Columbus code-enforcement records and describe reports filed, not verified conditions.