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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2009 > September > 01 > Entry
Editorial: Judges slow to help save homes
Montgomery County’s judges must become players in efforts to stop home foreclosures.
The foreclosure crisis has hit Dayton and this region harder than most parts of Ohio. Notably Cleveland and Columbus have been more aggressive about trying to help and protect homeowners who could still make their payments if they could negotiate a sensibly reworked mortgage.
One tool other counties are increasingly using is court-ordered mediation. That effort is not happening here, and it should be.
Montgomery County has been too cautious and too slow. While the common pleas court system is proud of its progressive reputation, in this case, its inaction is causing families and neighborhoods to suffer. Right now, more than half of the cases on the docket in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court are foreclosures. A stunning 5,000 families just this year will enter the process that could lead to losing their homes. Many of them can’t be saved — but some can be.
Fair housing and consumer advocates are pressing the judges to use Ohio Supreme Court guidelines that favor mediation and are asking them to order lenders to negotiate with homeowners.
In Franklin County, the court has taken steps such as creating a form that allows homeowners to ask for mediation, and then it quickly responds with orders to lenders to talk. The result has been a relatively small — but growing — number of homes being saved.
For homeowners facing trouble, foreclosure is a terrifying and intimidating process. Some owners have made too many bad choices or can’t afford even a reworked mortgage. Some give up and don’t even try to fight for their home. Others want to find a way out, but don’t know how.
Montgomery County has tried the soft approach — sending letters, for instance, outlining options along with foreclosure notices. That isn’t working.
More aggressive outreach is needed to identify bad loans held by good homeowners — such as those with track records of paying on time and incomes to support a sensible mortgage payment. In those cases, court-ordered mediation is worth a shot.
County Recorder Willis Blackshear has a program that targets just that sort of homeowner before foreclosure, and he raised outside funds for a full-time employee to directly contact people who aren’t totally in over their heads financially. The early success rate of the program is promising. Nonprofit groups like the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center perform similar functions. These efforts should be more closely coordinated with the court.
One possible way to address the problem is to replicate “drug courts,” creating a “foreclosure court” of a similar design.
In drug court, defendants with drug problems are screened, and those deemed likely to avoid trouble get special attention. A judge with expertise in drug cases sets aside designated times to hear those cases. Experts and service providers stay on the defendants and ensure they’re getting help.
A foreclosure court, perhaps led by a judge and a mediator, could work much the same way.
New talks are underway between court personnel and advocates for homeowners. Other ideas must be considered and tried.
Given the scope of the foreclosure crisis and the devastation that’s continuing to occur, the judges must catch up — fast.
Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment | Categories: City of Dayton, Editorials, Predatory lending
Comments
By Rob
September 1, 2009 11:10 AM | Link to this
Or just wait another six months and declare the foreclosure crisis over. Time will make this problem go away…of course, with the forclosure crisis over, the city will be left with even more abandoned homes. There is really no incentive for the banks to cooperate. the end result always favors the bank.By tommyv
September 1, 2009 12:45 PM | Link to this
I could not disagree more. I have watched the anatomies of foreclosures in my my neighborhood and the last thing needed is mediation. These people break up their pre-marital arrangements, they have gone to jail for heinous crimes, and they get in over their heads in debt with cars, vacations, and electronics. These judges need to spend more time on convicting the thieves, thugs, and gang-bangers who are controlling the streets. Forget the foreclosure business. Let the houses become cheap enough so that honorable people can move in at low prices.By bobby
September 1, 2009 2:17 PM | Link to this
Any new talks with judges regarding changes in the foreclosure process should include the mortgage industry. Nonprofit groups should welcome the other “victim” of foreclosure to the table.By truethat
September 1, 2009 3:26 PM | Link to this
No the recession is over. The media says it is.By Jim
September 2, 2009 8:15 AM | Link to this
Foreclosures have represented almost 50% of civil cases in Montgomery County since 2003. This has been a huge problem for many years, well before the national crisis. Dan Foley tried to bring this problem to the community’s attention several times with limited success. We have needed some type of coordinated, community response to this problem for a long time. Court involvement is essential since mortgage companies and banks do very little to assist delinquent mortgage holders.By Greg Hunter
September 2, 2009 10:47 AM | Link to this
The easiest way to prevent foreclosure was to limit the amount of new houses that were built. The fiefdoms that dot Montgomery County along with County officials rubber stamped every development in sight to get “tax revenue”. It was easy to see where it would end up, but all of the local municipalities are controlled by real estate people or those that derive their livelihood from the construction of crap, what do you expect? Development is fostered by taxpayer dollars contributing to sprawl by expanding roadways and driving development, which devalues the prices of established neighborhoods. Now people want the courts to redress the mess, when there is no way stop it from happening in the future? Stupid and short sighted. When housing drops to levels that support people’s incomes then things will be set right. In the future the free market maniacs should propose that all development be financed by developers and not taxpayers in other parts of the community that will lose value as these developments come on line.By bobby
September 2, 2009 11:38 AM | Link to this
Jim, Unless there was a provision in the note and mortgage, lenders were not obligated to do anything to assist delinquent borrowers [pre Obama]…The bigger problem the region’s leaders need to address, and why foreclosures here spiked earlier, is declining/aging/poor population,oversupply of housing,and a shrinking economy due to loss of manufacturing jobs….Housing demand is less than the supply,yet Mr. Foley and the other county commissioners signed on to build more “affordable” tax credit houses that cost substantially more than what is available on the market. They should spend more effort on demolition and reducing supply…Ohio HB3 is not a panacea to the foreclosure problem. The nonprofit advocacy groups are the winners in this legislation. Beware,the law of unintended consequences.