Ohio is a judicial or in court only foreclosure state. This means that the bank must petition a judge to move forward to sell a house attached as security to mortgage in default to try and get the money owed that is not being paid.
This means that the court decides how much a home owner in difficulty must pay. Is also sets a time frame, usually a fairly short one, in which the home owner needs to come up with that amount. If the homeowner cannot pay that money during the allotted time, the clerk of the court must advertise the home for sale.
Three different appraisals of the property are required to be conducted before the scheduled sale date. These appraisals must be performed by professionals who have no interest or other connection to the home being appraised. The minimum asking price, or the least amount it can be sold for must be no less than two thirds of the appraised value that has been sent to and filed with the court.
The sale is held at the court house for the county in which the property is located. Prior to the scheduled sale date, an advertisement, announcing the sale date, time, place and terms of the auction for the home must be run in a local paper. This advertisement must be run at least once a week for three weeks consecutively in the weeks leading up tot the scheduled sale date, the paper in which the ad is to be run must name general circulation in the county win which the home is located. The county sheriff will officiate at the auction. The opening bid will be that two thirds value established by the three appraisals. The person offering the highest price will be awarded the property by the sheriff.
Lenders do have the right in Ohio to see a deficiency judgment. This means that if the bank feels that the money generated by the sheriff’s sale has no other assets worth pursuing by the bank. Deficiency judgments are therefore rarely sought.
The average amount of time for a foreclosure to run its full course in Ohio is 150 days. I could find no specifics on how the funds for the winning purchase are to be paid. Ohio foreclosure law does state the court will punish the winning bidder who fails to pay that bid by finding them in contempt of court. That sounds pretty severe. So, in Ohio make sure you can pay, if you are the highest bidder at the sale.
