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Housing crisis bills moving through Ohio Legislature slowly

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By Ken McCall, Staff Writer Updated 6:55 AM Monday, December 14, 2009

In what many agree is a housing crisis of historic proportions, the Ohio Legislature has not passed a single measure this session to help beleaguered home owners or the communities that are left to deal with foreclosed or abandoned properties.

Some lawmakers continue to work on it, though.

At least five bills seeking to address different aspects of the state’s foreclosure debacle have cleared or are working their way through the Ohio House.

Two bills that passed the Democratically controlled House in May have languished in the Republican-controlled Senate ever since.

The bills would place a six-month moratorium on foreclosures, regulate companies that enforce mortgages, establish foreclosure counseling programs and provide protection for tenants in foreclosed properties.

Rep. Mike Foley, D-Cleveland, chairman of the House Housing and Urban Revitalization Committee and sponsor of one of the bills, said he’s frustrated at the lack of action.

“I’m angry at the Senate right now,” said Foley after a committee hearing Dec. 2. “If you listen to the testimony today, the problem is not going to get any better. And they’re sitting and doing absolutely nothing on our two bills, in one of the worst economic crises in the state of Ohio.”

Foley’s committee is working on a bill to deal with so-called bank walkaways. He expects to pass that bill out of committee, this week.

Two other House bills are in different stages in the process.

Maggie Ostrowski, spokeswoman for Senate President Bill Harris, said her boss and other Republican senators are committed to working on the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

“I think Senator Harris recognizes the problem and is not shying away from talking about these issues in an election year,” Ostrowski said.

“I think we’ll have a good discussion in the very near future.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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