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A closer look at housing crisis legislation

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Staff reports Updated 6:56 AM Monday, December 14, 2009

Five bills dealing with the mortgage foreclosure crisis have been approved or are in the works in the Ohio House of Representatives. Here is a brief listing of some of their provisions and their current status.

House Bill 3

• Places a six-month moratorium on foreclosures

• Regulates companies that enforce mortgages

• Requires a $750 foreclosure filing fee, part of which would go to establish foreclosure counseling programs.

Status: Approved by the House, awaiting hearings in the Senate Finance Committee

House Bill 9

• Requires a landlord to provide notice to prospective and current renters if a foreclosure action if filed against the property.

• Requires a landlord provide each tenant written notice 21 days before a sheriff’s sale is scheduled.

• Specifies that a rental agreement for a residential property that is sold in foreclosure converts to a month-to-month rental agreement.

Status: Approved by the House, awaiting hearing in the Senate Finance Committee

House Bill 306, Senate Bill 197

• Requires mandatory mediation before a non-tax foreclosure case on an occupied residence could proceed.

• Pays the costs of mediation by imposing a filing fee up to an additional $500.

Status: Under consideration by the House Housing and Urban Revitalization Committee.

House Bill 313, Senate Bill 188

• Would expand a pilot land bank program, previously authorized only for Cuyahoga County to 28 other counties with populations greater than 100,000.

• It would allow counties to establish non-profit land reutilization corporation to acquire properties and redevelop them to reduce blight and increase property values.

Status: Approved by the Local Government/Public Administration Committee, awaiting consideration by the House

House Bill 323

• Requires plaintiffs in a foreclosure case to initiate a sheriff’s sale within 60 days of a foreclosure judgment, or lose their lien on the property.

• If a foreclosure sale does not happen and a homeowner does not redeem ownership, the property is seized by the county and transferred to a land bank, if one exists.

• Would stay judgment in a foreclosure case until a probable nuisance property is abated by a filing plaintiff, and expands definitions and court powers related to nuisances.

Status: Under consideration by the House Housing and Urban Revitalization Committee.

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