Ohio Practical Business Law : Columbus Ohio Business Lawyer & Attorney : Teri Rasmussen : Plunkett Cooney Law Firm : Commercial Law, Creditors, Business Formation : Columbus, Central Ohio

In my last post, I made some overall observations about Ohio's required judicial foreclosure procedures and explained the initial steps necessary to begin the foreclosure process.  In this post, I will explain what is involved, once the Complaint has been properly filed, in getting the property being foreclosed upon to sheriff's sale

One other caveat about this explanation is that it relates to foreclosures filed in STATE court as opposed to FEDERAL court.  While foreclosures are generally filed in state court, especially when receivership is involved, if diversity jursidiction can be met, foreclosures are now being filed somewhat more often in federal court.  in Ohio, this seems to happen most often in Cuyahoga County where the federal court route is perceived as a faster track option.

STEP THREE - Receivership Detour.  (Less than one day to several weeks after Complaint is filed.)  When commercial investment property is involved such as an office building, apartment complex, or multi-family property, the real property is generating revenues in the form of rental payments from tenants.  Lenders wanting to protect that stream of income and apply it to the defaulted loan will often seek appointment of a receiver to manage the property.  In addition, property securing defaulted loans has often been the subject of deferred maintenance and lenders are frequently concerned about deteriorating value of the property as a result.

Virtually all commercial loan mortgages securing a loan of any size have explicit provisions in them pursuant to which the mortgagor consents in advance to the appointment of a receiver in advance.  The following is a very typical such provision:

If an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, regardless of the adequacy of Lender’s security, without regard to Borrower’s solvency and without the necessity of giving prior notice (oral or written) to Borrower, Lender may apply to any court having jurisdiction for the appointment of receiver for the Mortgaged Property to take any or all the actions set forth in the preceding sentence. If Lender elects to seek the appointment of a receiver for the Mortgaged Property at any time after an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, Borrower, by its execution of this instrument, expressly consents to the appointment of such receiver, including the appointment of a receiver ex parte if permitted by applicable law.

Thus, commercial borrowers have by contract usually agreed to the appointment of a receiver in the event of a default. 

If for some reason, the mortgage lacks the requisite language consenting to appointment of a receiver,  Ohio Rev. Code 2735.01 permits appointment of a receiver when:

 A receiver may be appointed by ... the court of common pleas or a judge thereof in his county … in the following cases:            …

(B) In an action by a mortgagee, for the foreclosure of his mortgage and sale of the mortgaged property, when it appears that the mortgaged property is in danger of being lost, removed, or materially injured, or that the condition of the mortgage has not been performed, and the property is probably insufficient to discharge the mortgage debt;

…

(F) In all other cases in which receivers have been appointed by the usages of equity.

Appointment of a receiver is also permissible under common law whenever it will prevent a wasting of assets. 

To expedite appointment of a receiver, a motion seeking appointment of a receiver is usually filed at the same time as the Complaint.  Technically, the identity of a receiver and the terms of his/her appointment are up to the Court, but generally (although this varies considerably from county to county and from judge to judge) the Court will follow the suggestion of the foreclosing creditor.  Once appointed, the party appointed as receiver will have to post a bond in an amount set by the Court.

While appointment of a receiver often makes sense with respect to income producing property, lenders must weigh those benefits against the additional costs associated with receivership such as the premium for a receiver's bond, fees and expenses of the receiver, and additional attorneys' fees.  

STEP FOUR - Obtaining Decree in Foreclosure.  (No less than 6 weeks, generally 16-24 weeks, sometimes much longer.)  Once the Complaint, and any applicable motion for a receiver, is filed, service of process must be obtained upon the defendants just as in any other lawsuit.  Generally, service is first sought by way of certified mail, then by regular ordinary first class U.S. mail, and then, if necessary, by appointment of a special process server or by advertising.  Obtaining good service on all defendants may take as little as a week or several months; generally this process only takes about a week or two.

Twenty-eight (28) days after being served, a defendant must file an answer to the Complaint.  If no answer ot other responsive pleading is filed, a default judgment will be entered against the defendant.  If a senior lienholder fails to answer, their lien can be eliminated without. any payment to the lienholder so it is important not to ignore a foreclosure initiated by another creditor.  If the foreclosure has been commenced by another creditor, a creditor has the option of  either (A) "crossclaiming" by setting forth its own foreclosure claims which can continue even if the first creditor resolves its differences with the delinquent borrower; or (B) simply filing an answer setting forth its interest in the property being foreclosed.

If one or more defendants answer, then a motion for summary judgment must be filed before a decree in  foreclosure can be obtained.  If factual issues exist, a full-blown trial may even be necessary. 

Unless and until a receiver has been appointed, the delinquent mortgagor may remain in possession of the real property throught the pendency of the foreclosure proceeding.

STEP FIVE - Setting a Date for Sheriff's Sale.  (No less than 6 weeks and often much longer.)  After the Court has entered the Decree in Foreclosure, whether by default judgment, grant of a summary judgment motion, or following trial on the merits, a separate Order of Sale must be entered directing the Sheriff to sell the subject property at auction,  Once the Decree in Foreclosure has been obtained, the Order of Sale is a formality and serves as the operational document to put the mechanics of the foreclosure sale procedure in motion.

Pursuant to Ohio Rev. Code 2329.17 and Ohio Rev, Code 2329.18, the Sheriff must obtain an appraisal of the property from three (3) appraisers and file a copy of the appraisals with the Court.  The Sheriff handles the appraisal process on his own without intervention, consultation, or assistance from the foreclosing creditor.  The average of the appraisals establishes a floor below which the property cannot be sold; pursuant to Ohio Rev. Code 2329.20, the required MINIMUM BID is TWO-THIRDS of the APPRAISED VALUE based on the appraisal filed with the Court. 

Before the real property can be sold, Ohio Rev. Code 2329.26  requires that a notice of sale, showing time and place of sale, address of the property,and certain other required information,  must be published in a newspaper of general circulation within the county beginning at least thrity (30) days before the date of sale.  The notice must be published at least once a week, on the same day of the week, for at least three weeks.  All defendants (other than those who failed to respond to the Complaint) must be served with the notice of sale at least seven days before the sale. 

STEP SIX - Selling the Property at Sheriff's Sale.  Once the date of sale has been obtained and proper notice has been sent out, there is little for anyone to do but wait.   While Ohio Rev. Code 2339.272 permits the Sheriff to hold an "open house" at which prospective purchasers may view the property being foreclosed upon, in my experience, that rarely, if ever, happens.  Commercial investment property has typically remained open to the public thoroughout  the foreclosure proceedings so in these cases, perhaps the need for an "open house" is relatively small.  However, in residential foreclosures, the borrower may have moved out and the actual condition of the property may not be readily apparent.   In both cases, the doctrine of caveat emptor, i.e."buyer beware" has never been more applicable.  There are NO warranties about the condition of the property being sold at foreclosure sale, the successful purchaser is buying "AS IS, with all faults". 

And, no, the foreclosing lender will not make arrangements for prospective bidders to get inside to see the property so don't bother even asking!

On the appointed date of sale, the Sheriff holds an auction sale of the property, often quite literally on the steps of the County Courthouse, with bidding beginning at two-thirds of the appraised value as determined by the Sheriff. Thus, if the real property has been appraised at $150,000, it cannot be sold at sheriff's sale for less than $100,000.   If no one is willing to purchase at the required minimum bid, the property will be re-appraised and re-noticed for sale. 

The highest bidder becomes the succcessful purchaser of the property and is awarded ownership of the property free and clear of all liens belonging to defendants named in the forecosure action.   Typically, the successful bidder is required to make an immediate down payment to the Sheriff of at least ten percent of the winning bid with the balance due within a specified time thereafter, usually 15-30 days.  The foreclosing creditor is permitted to bid at the sale and if it is the successful high bidder, it need only pay the amount, if any, by which its successful "credit bid" exceeds the amount owed to te foreclosing creditor.  In addition the successful bidder is permitted to assign its bid to another party on whatever terms are agreeable between it and its assignee upon the filing of approriate pleading to the effect with the Court.

For the sake of comparison, it may be helpful to visit a post on the Calculated Risk blog entitled "Foreclosure Sales and REO for UberNerds" (which contains a further useful link to a website purporting to contain summaries of foreclosure procedures in all 50 states) to see how the Ohio foreclosure sale process differs in several significant ways from that in several other states.

STEP SEVEN - Completing the Foreclosure Sale Process.  (Approximately 4-6 weeks).  Following completion of the foreclosure sale and payment in full of the purchase price by the successful bidder (or bid assignee), a Confirmation Order approving the sale and ordering delivery of the deed to the successful bidder must then be entered by the Court of Common Pleas.

Once the Confirmation Order is entered by the Court, the delinquent mortgagor has no further right of redemption.   Ohio Rev. Code 2923.31 and Ohio Rev. Code 2329.33.  This differs from many other states.  Prior to entry of the Confirmation Order, the mortgagor can redeem the property and in  essence undo the foreclosure sale by paying the amount of the judgment, plus interest on the purchase price at the rate of 8% per annum from the date of deposit.

Again, every foreclosure is different and has its own timetable.  Local procedures vary considerably from county to county in Ohio and from judge to judge.  In addition, unique issues may arise which complicate the process.  However, in general, this is how a typical Ohio foreclosure unfolds when filed in state court.

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When you're part of the Ohio outpost of a Michigan-based law firm, you get asked questions about Ohio law that you're so used to knowing, it sorta surprises you initially... until you stop and realize there's a whole heckuva lot about Michigan law that you don't know.  Anyway, recently I was asked about foreclosure procedure in Ohio and it occurred to me that in the current economic climate, this might be useful information for lots of folks. 

So, here's a two part post laying out a roadmap for a typical Ohio foreclosure.  Part One covers getting from declaring default to bringing foreclosure proceedings into full swing.  Part Two deals with obtaining the judgment decree in foreclosure once the case is filed, selling the property at sheriff's sale, and the adminstrative details involved in completing the process.  

And of course, my disclaimer: Every foreclosure is unique and presents its own problems and challenges so the following description of the process should be seen only as the most general outline and not relied upon as a detailed explanation of how every forclosure will proceed.  

Whether involved in a foreclosure from the creditor side or as the delinquent mortgagor, everyone always wants to know how long it will take.  And the short answer is longer than you might think.  The length of foreclosure proceedings in Ohio varies considerably from one county to the next and of course every case has its own pace,  However, in my experience, Ohio foreclosures rarely, if ever, take any less than at least six months and often take much longer, not infrequently more than a year.

Initial Observations.  In Ohio, foreclosure proceedings work much the same way regardless of whether the property involved is residential, i.e. someone's home, or commercial/investment.  The most significant difference is that a receiver is often appointed in cases involving commercial investment property to protect the value of the property and the flow of income from occupants in the property.  Because my law practice here in Central Ohio primarily involves representation of creditors with liens on commercial or investment properties, this post will focus primarily on how the process works in those situations.  However, most of what is said is equally applicable to the resdential side as well.  

Ohio, unlike many other states, does not offer creditors the option of a nonjudicial foreclosure, strict foreclosure or deed of sale.  (Click here for a very brief explanation of the difference between judicial and nonjudicial foreclosure.)  If a creditor has a mortgage or judgment lien on real property in Ohio and wishes to convert that lien to cash to pay off the borrower's debt, a lawsuit MUST be filed; there is NO summary procedure or shortcut.  The only out of court alternative available is a "deed-in'lieu" situation in which the borrower voluntarily conveys the real property to the creditor in full or partial satisfaction of the outstanding obligation.  (This could and probably will be the subject of a separate post.)

Because Ohio does enforce cognovit promissory notes evidencing commercial obligations which permit creditors to obtain money judgment immediately upon filing a Complaint, creditors are allowed to pursue post-judgment collection actions with respect to a debtor and its personal property assets during the pendency of the foreclosure proceeding if they have taken a cognovit judgment on the underlying monetary obligation.  Perhaps the most important point here is that a creditor can both take a cognovit judgment and pursue foreclosure simultaneously.

The fact that the titled owner of the real property may be a guarantor rather than a borrower does not affect foreclosure proceedings in any meaningful way.  Nor does the fact that the loan agreement, note, or mortgage is a "hypothecated" obligation or contains "exculpatory" provisions, both of which relieve the signatory of liability in excess of the value of the property pledged, change any aspect of the foreclosure proceedings other than eliminate any attempt to obtain money judgment.

While statutes and court rules governing foreclosure are uniform throughout Ohio, several counties have additional supplementary local rules, many of which fall in the "unwritten" variety, that must be followed by the foreclosing creditor.  Several counties, including Cuyahoga (think Cleveland) and Hamilton (think Cincinnati), use magistrates for foreclosure proceedings.  This can add time to the process because Magistrate Decisions must be adopted by Common Pleas judges before becoming effective.

STEP ONE - Establishing the Event of Default.    (Generally 1 -3 weeks, occasionally 4-5 weeks.) Obviously, an event of default, whether monetary or nonmonetary, must first occur before the foreclosure remedy is appropriate.  Typically, upon default, a demand letter of some sort will be sent to the borrower and any guarantors setting out the amount owed and referencing the occurrence of the default.  Nonmonetary default can include many things, a number of which will likely be spelled out in the applicable loan documents, and can include such things as default on obligations to other creditors, decrease or deterioration in the value of the real property, failure to maintain insurance, or filing of a mechanics' lien upon the real property. 

Before commencing a foreclosure action, lenders must take care to comply with any applicable cure period which allows the borrower to bring the obligation current or otherwise correct the default.  Loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration, or in which the Veterans' Administration or the Federal Housing Administration is involved may have specific notice periods and guidelines that must be observed before foreclosure should be initiated.   

STEP TWO - Preparing and Filing Foreclosure Complaint.  (Typically 1- 3 weeks, depending on the complexity of the title work required; process can occur contemporaneously with STEP ONE.)  To ensure that all creditors with liens on the real property --  including junior or senior mortgageholders, judgment lien holders, mechanics' lien holders, and taxing authorities -- are properly included as defendants in the foreclosure action, a title report must be ordered from a title company.  It is important to include all such lienholders because if omitted, the lien will remain an encumbrance on the real property even following foreclosure sale, and depending on its priority, might even be entitled to recover proceeds from the foreclsoure sale from other recipients. 

Purusant to Ohio Rev Code 2329.191, the title report or preliminary judicial report (sometimes called PJR, for short), must be filed with the Complaint in the Common Pleas Court in the Ohio county in which the real property is located.  The key is WHERE the property is located; it does not matter if the debtor is a  foreign corporation headquartered in, say Delaware, or if the loan documents were all signed in Michigan, or even if the principal place of business of the debtor is in another county or state. 

Defendants named in the complaint MUST include the follwing:

• Original mortgagor (i.e. party granting the mortgage) - note that this may or may not be the principal borrower and that if not, the principal borrower is not required to be named a defendant
• Current owner of the property, if different from the original mortgagor
• Junior or senior lienholders, including mortgage holders, judgment lien holders, statutory lien holders such as mechanics' liens and others
• Spouse of individual debtor (to eliminate dower rights)
• Current tenants and other occupants, whether there pursuant to written lease or not
• Holders of other interests such as easements, if wish to eliminate them

The Complaint may seek only foreclosure or may also include other counts for such causes of action as money judgments against the borrower(s) and guarantor(s), replevin (i.e.personal property foreclosure - yes, this too will likely eventually be the subject of a separate post), or other related claim.  If a lender has determined appointment of a receiver is warranted, the Complaint will also include a count seeking appointment of a receiver and the lender should have selected a preferred receiver appointee before filing the Complaint.

So this is how a typical Ohio foreclosure generally begins.  In my next post, I'll explain what happens once the foreclosure action is filed and how the process culminates in a sheriff's sale conveying good title to the real estate being foreclosed to another party and providing the source of funds to payall or part of the delinquent debt.

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OK, so I thought the dismissals of foreclosures without prejudice by three federal judges a couple of months back were not that big a deal by themselves. Click here and here for my earlier postings on the decisions by Judge Boyko, Judge O'Malley, and Judge Rose. However, the recent "public nuisance" and "predatory lending" lawsuits by the City of Cleveland and the City of Baltimore, respectively - coupled with a number of other events I'll describe below - HAS gotten my attention.

I stand by my earlier postings about the importance of those particular decisions on their own, but the march of events since then clearly indicates that foreclosures - regardless of whether they are connected to the subprime mortgage business - and mortgage lending in general are destined for the national stage. For a quick round-up on what's been happening here in Ohio click here. For those wanting the most succinct description of recent legal filings in Cleveland and Baltimore, click here for the Wall Street Journal Law Blog's posting.

As might be expected, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the rulings did affect the actual number of filings in federal court in Cleveland, resulting in drastically fewer filings. Click here for the Christmas Day story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. However, the impact has been far more widespread. Like a lit match dropped on dry wood, these rulings have ignited a veritable forest fire not easily extinguished.

Summary of Recent Events. A brief review of some recent events is in order. This is by no means complete, even with respect to Ohio, but should give an idea of the burgeoning issue.

• In early December, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steven E. Martin dismissed a Wells Fargo foreclosure with facts very similar to those in the federal cases. Although the bank was ultimately able after the case had been filed to demonstrate that it was the owner of the mortgage, Judge Martin nevertheless dismissed the action. In addition, the law firm handling the foreclosure was told that it could not file any more foreclosures unless it provided proof of the client's ownership of the mortgage at the time of the initial filing. Click here for news coverage on this by Cincinnati Enquirer.

• According to several news reports (including various ones I've linked to elsewhere in this post), the Consumer Protection Section of the Office of Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann is apparently waging a stealth campaign by filing motions in Hamilton County and elsewhere challenging whether the named plaintiff is the proper "party in interest". Interestingly, while some reports state that as many as 30 such motions have been filed, there is no press release on the Attorney General's website concerning these actions.

• On the Friday before Christmas, Ohio State Bar Association President Rob Ware sent an e-mail to OSBA members seeking volunteers to help assist people facing foreclosure and according to this story in the Cincinnati Enquirer, by the day after Christmas more than 200 attorneys had volunteered.

• In Clermont County, Common Pleas Judge Robert P. Ringland has sent a letter to local law firms asking that they participate in mediation in foreclosure cases. Click here for coverage by the Cincinnati Enquirer.

• Following on the heels of the recently released University of Iowa study Misbehavior and Mistake in Bankruptcy Mortgage Claims detailing widespread "shortcuts" and other less than stellar loan collection practices in Chapter 13 bankruptcies, came a New York Times article about how Countrywide Home Loan, Inc. was forced to admit it "recreated" certain letters used as evidence in a bankruptcy proceeding. Read the Countrywide Transcipt of the Status Conference in which this came out.

Enter City of Baltimore and City of Cleveland. Then, last week came the attention-commanding lawsuits by the City of Baltimore and the City of Cleveland:

• Last Tuesday, the City of Baltimore filed a Complaint infederal district court, Case No. L 08 CV 062,against Wells Fargo Bank, NA alleging that the bank engaged in a"reverse redlining"predatory lendingpractice by charging higher fees and interest rates in Baltimore's poorest neigborhoods, resulting in foreclosure rates twice the citywide average. Click here for the press release issued by the City of Baltimore about the lawsuit. Click here for news coverage by the New York Times. Click here and here for news coverage by the Baltimore Sun-Times and here for Baltimore Sun-Times coverage of reaction.

• A couple of days later on January 10, 2008, the City of Cleveland filed a "public nuisance" action in state court against Deutsche Bank Trust Company and twenty other lenders (including Wells Fargo & Company, but not including any Ohio home grown institutions such as National City Bank, KeyBank, Fifth Third Bank or the Huntington National Bank) in a suit on the docket of Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court captioned City of Cleveland v. Deutsche Bank Trust Company, Case No. CV 08 646970, Judge Corrigan presiding, Here is a copy of the filed Cleveland Complaint and a graphic showing the named defendants and their foreclosure activity in the Cleveland area. Click here for the City of Cleveland press release on the case.
  • For news coverage from Cleveland including a video of Cleveland Law Director Robert Triozzi discussing the lawsuit, click here and here. In the "notable quote" department, Cleveland Mayor Jackson told the Cleveland Plain Dealer reporters, "To me, this is no different than organized crime or drugs."
  • For Cleveland Plain Dealer coverage of reaction to the suit, click here
  • For the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Sunday editorial praising the filing of the lawsuit click here.
  • UPDATE: On January 16, 2008, defendant Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. got the case removed to federal court in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Case No. 08-CV-00139-DCN, Judge Donald C. Nugent presiding. As might be expected, the City of Cleveland has responded by filing a Motion to Remand.

What the Boyko, O'Malley, and Rose decisions did was legitimize lingering questions and uncork pent-up forces long looking for an angle of attack. To some extent, an old problem has simply gotten new visibility. Click here for an ABC News story on a New Hampshire man engaged in a six year "predatory lending" battle and click here for a Wall Street Journal Law Blog posting about a Cleveland man ahead of the curve who made the "not the owner" argument years ago and is now appealing on that basis to the United States Sixth Circuit. Read his arguments in Davet Motion.

So, basically there's a lot to take in at this point. For one academic perspective on whether municipalities even have standing to file actions like the City of Baltimore action, see Cleveland State University Assistant Professor Kathleen Engel's 2005 paper, "Do Cities Have Standing? Redressing the Externalites of Predatory Lending", which discusses "public nuisance" as a possible basis for city claims against predatory lenders.

What's It All Mean? Anyone who reading the papers over the last month or so can see that the politicians from the federal government on down have recognized that foreclosures have started to be a enough of a real risk for a substantial enough Americans that they need to take notice. And there will undoubtedly be various plans offering "assistance" of one kind or another to "deserving" homeowners. It's still too early to know the form these will take or whether they will really help any significant number of people.

From a legal standpoint, residential foreclosures in Ohio may become more costly for lenders (and less easy for lenders' counsel to do on a "flat rate" per case basis as is often done) in the short run. Logically, the stricter standards may also carry over into commericial foreclosures although probably with less impact since commericial mortgages are less often commoditized into securitization vehicles.

Documenting Ownership. In the end, however, the "not the real owner" argument will merely force lenders to take more care in documenting transfers of mortgage loans. While this is certainly not a bad thing from an objective standpoint - although it may add to transaction costs ( which may ultimately be passed on to consumers), especially in the beginning as lenders retool - it is also not some sort of fatal blow to the mortgage lending industry or even to securitization. In addition, not every mortgage loan has been assigned away. This theory may buy some borrowers some time (and sometimes that IS very important), but with some exceptions, it's probably not going to change the outcome for most borrowers in default.

Public Nuisance. Although the "public nuisance" theory advanced by the City of Cleveland is certainly innovative and I'd be remiss if I didn't give kudos to a superfically appealing argument, I just don't see it as a winning argument ultimately. I haven't fully digested the lengthy Complaint yet and perhaps once I do, I'll have a better understanding. It strikes me as just another reincarnation of the "lender liability" arguments in vogue when I began practicing law - "you shouldn't have lent me the money because you knew I couldn't pay it back". At some point, there has to be some assumption of responsibility by borrowers for taking the loans in the first place. From my cursory review of the City of Cleveland Complaint, it seems to contend that lenders "should have known" about all sorts of trends and economic factors more easily understood by everyone in hindsight. While "lender liability" lawsuits did get some borrowers out of some loans and did complicate lenders' lives for a while, eventually the novelty wore off. I think the same thing may happen here.

Predatory Lending. Now this one MIGHT amount to something. If lenders did mislead borrowers about the terms of their loan, then they should have to reap the consequences. Perhaps due to all my years as bank counsel, however, I'm a bit skeptical here too. The truth of the matter is that NONE of us really listen to all of the terms of the loan; we just want the house and are happy we found a bank willing to give us the money we need to make it happen. So who's job is it to police the terms offered? Again I haven't fully analyzed the allegations of the City of Baltimore Complaint either so I'm not sure how strong that case is. So I will be interested to see how this one develops, both in Baltimore and elsewhere.

Why It Matters. Aside from the obvious reasons why we should all care about this issue both personally in terms of our own ability to access mortgage loans and more generally in terms of the plight of our fellow citizen, its effect on the credit markets is likely to extend beyond residential mortgages. Business owners may find that their ability and cost to obtain credit have changed.

It's hard to know for sure how the foreclosure "crisis" will play out over the next few months in Ohio and elsewhere. In the short run, however, "business as usual" for the foreclosing lender is over for a while.

UPDATE: What Might Be Next. For an interesting peek at what might be next in Cleveland and Baltimore, click here for the recent cover story in Business Week about "Bank Day" in a Buffalo courtroom in which lenders are being held accountable for various housing code violations on properties being foreclosed upon.

This post was accidentally deleted for a time, but fortunately I had kept a copy and was able to put the original post back up once I realized the problem.

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