Ohio State Offering Free Legal Help For Foreclosure Victims

April 4th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosure Victims

The state is adding more teeth to its growl in an attempt to curb rising foreclosures in Ohio. It is offering free legal aid to those at risk from foreclosures. The Governor Ted Strickland, the Chief Justice of Ohio Supreme Court, Justice Thomas J. Moyer and many others met on Tuesday. A legal clause has been added to its Save the Dream programme. It is for those who need help against foreclosures but do not have the money to appoint legal personnel.

A hotline has been set up. Borrowers can call and find out if they are eligible for the legal help. Those with an income below $54,000 having four family members will meet the requirements for qualifying. Last month the state sent 34,000 registered letters to attorneys in Ohio asking them to provide free service. More than 1,100 of these attorney have responded positively. Legal training on foreclosures had been given to 350 of these attorneys by the Ohio State Bar Association. More training sessions are being planned. Rob Ware, the President of the Bar Association said that those who have signed will be connected to the local legal services to be linked to the qualifying borrowers. Ware added that “these bro bono attorneys will supplement the resources available in the legal services community which alone are inadequate to address the current need.”

The need seems to be rising and rising. Ohio is among the first rankers in the country as regards pre-foreclosure and foreclosure filings according RealtyTrac – the prime online data collecting source. In 2007 Ohio had 153,196 foreclosure notices (including default, auction and bank repossessions) on 89,979 properties. It calculates to one foreclosure per 56 houses in the state. Ohio’s numbers are the sixth highest in US. The courts were overwhelmed with 83,000 new filings in 2007 – a record for the Supreme Court.

The Save the Dream programme of the state includes in it 16 agencies and organizations as well as Department of Development, Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio and the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

While Washington continues to hum and haw the states are not willing to wait and watch because they are at the direct receiving end. The increasing number of abandoned houses spelling criminal activity and health hazards are causing grave concern to the local neighbourhood. Like an infectious disease one foreclosure is pulling down the value of all the houses within its radius.