Ohio Foreclosure Laws

Foreclosure Laws in Ohio

Ohio foreclosure laws require that all foreclosures be carried out through judicial proceedings. Generally, the entire process of foreclosure takes around seven months to complete.

A foreclosure in Ohio begins when a lender registers a suit against the homeowner for the default amount owed in a local county court. The homeowner must be properly notified of the suit by mail or personal contact. If they cannot be located, notice of the suit must be published in a public forum. Once this has occurred, the homeowner has 28 days in which to respond to the suit, or the court will move to find them legally in default. At this point, the county clerk will instruct the local Sheriff to schedule a sale of the property in order to collect the debt owed to the lender. Generally, the court will set a specified time in which to pay off the default debt and halt the foreclosure proceedings. If this does not occur, the foreclosure sale will go ahead as planned.

Before a sale can occur, the county Sheriff must arrange to have the property in question appraised by three different, independent appraisers. Once this occurs, the Sheriff must publish an advertisement for the foreclosure sale for three weeks in a local newspaper. Once these requirements are met, the sale can go forth as scheduled. The original homeowner retains the right to avoid a foreclosure by paying off the entire amount owed on the loan debt at any point up until the time of the sale, as well as any applicable court fees or costs.

The sale occurs in the format of a public auction, which is held at the county courthouse. Using the mean appraised value of the home as a standard, the Sheriff must make sure that the winning bid is at least 2/3 the value of the home.

Once the sale completes, the results are submitted to the court, which will then confirm the sale or order otherwise. A deed of ownership is then prepared for the winning bidder and awarded by the Sheriff.