If You Build It Will They Come? Foreclosure Mediation in Franklin County, Ohio

AuthorC. Eileen Pruett
PositionManager, Small Claims Division and Dispute Resolution Department, Franklin County Municipal Court, Columbus, Ohio
Pages935-965
IF YOU BUILD IT WILL THEY COME? FORECLOSURE
MEDIATION IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, OHIO
C. EILEEN PRUETT
I. INTRODUCTION
The Franklin County Foreclosure Mediation Project (Project) is a
collaborative, proactive effort to address the foreclosure crisis in Franklin
County (Columbus), Ohio. The Supreme Court of Ohio reports the
county’s current population as 1,163,414.1 Foreclosure filings in Franklin
County increased from 8,928 in 20072 to 9,649 in 2010.3 This article
presents a detailed review of the project development, implementation, and
assessment of the Supreme Court of Ohio Foreclosure Mediation Program
Model (Supreme Court Model).4
Copyright © 2012, C. Eileen Pruett.
Manager, Small Claims Division and Dispute Resolution Department, Franklin
County Municipal Court, Columbus, Ohio; J.D. The Ohio State University College of Law,
1981; A.B. Indiana University, 1972. This article is based on the author’s experience with
the Franklin County Mediation Proj ect and presents the views of the author. The views
presented here may not represent the views of the Franklin County Municipal Court,
Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, the Franklin County Foreclosure Mediation
Project, or its funders. The author is extremely grat eful for the contributions and invaluable
assistance of Melanie McCort, Mediation Coordinator, Franklin County Foreclosure
Mediation Project; Jacqueline C. Hagerott, Manager, Dispute Resolution Section, Supreme
Court of Ohio; Alex Sanchez, J.D., Mediation Consultant, Franklin County Municipal Court
Small Claims Division and Dispute Resolution Department; Jamie Beres, Jennifer Herman,
and Tim Schirmer, students at the Moritz College of Law, The Ohio State University; and
Aaron Fisher, Alyssa Phillips, and Joshua Werning, students at Capital University Law
School.
1 THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO, 2010 OHIO COURTS STATISTICAL REPOR T 126 (2010),
available at http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/publications/annrep/10OCS/2010OCS.pdf.
2 THE SUPREME COUR T OF OHIO, OHIO COURTS SUMMARY (2007), available at http://
www.sconet.state.oh.us/Publications/annrep/07OCS/2007OCS.pdf.
3 THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO, supra note 1.
4 See Foreclo sure Mediation Program Model Overvi ew, THE SUP. CT. OF OHIO, http://
www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/disputeResolution/foreclosure/overview.asp (last visited
Mar. 1, 2012); Foreclosure Mediation Resources, THE SUP. CT. OF OHIO, http://www.
supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/disputeResolution/foreclosure/ (last visited Mar. 1, 2012)
(continued)
936 CAPITAL UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW [40:935
II. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT—SUPREME COURT MODEL STEP ONE:
BUILDING A FORECLOSURE MEDIATION PROGRAM
If you build it [they] will come5
The notion of developing a foreclosure mediation program for Franklin
County presented itself much like actor Kevin Costner’s vision of a
baseball field in the middle of a cornfield. A small group of stakeholders
began planning for the Project in the spring of 2008.6 Their purpose was to
examine ways to address the foreclosure crisis.7 The Franklin County
Municipal Court (Municipal Court) Dispute Resolution Department
manager and mediators working in the several mediation programs in
central Ohio met with representatives of five Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) approved counseling agencies that serve Franklin
County. The agencies are:
1. Columbus Housing Partnership,
2. Columbus Urban League,
3. Consumer Credit Counseling Services,
4. Homes on the Hill, and
5. Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission.8
The purpose of this group (the Work Group) was to explore the use of
mediation before a foreclosure case was filed in the Franklin County Court
of Common Pleas (Common Pleas Court). The Work Group added
representatives from additional organizations. As discussions to design
and implement a pre-filing mediation project continued, the Common Pleas
Court, Franklin County Treasurer Ed Leonard, and Franklin County
Prosecutor Ron O’Brien asked the Work Group to consider developing a
foreclosure mediation program for mediation services in both pre-filing
and post-filing foreclosure actions. The Work Group approached the
Project with focus and commitment. The Work Group articulated goals
(presenting the nine-step approach advo cated by the late Chief Justice Thomas Mo yer and
identifying step one as “Building a Foreclosure Mediat ion Program”).
5 FIELD OF DREAMS (Universal Studios, 1989).
6 THE SUPREME COURT OF OHIO, FORECLOSURE MEDIATIO N PROGRAM MODEL 3 (2008),
available at http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/disputeResolution/foreclosure/
foreclosureMediation.pdf [hereinafter SUPR EME COURT MODEL].
7 Id.
8 See HUD Approved Housing Counseling Agencies, U.S. DEPT OF HOUSING AND URB.
DEV., http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm?searchstate=OH&filterLng=&filter
Svc=&filterMultiState=&searchName=&searchCity=Columbus&searchZip=&searchServic
e=&searchLang=&searchAffiliation=&webListAction=Search (last visited Feb. 17, 2012).

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT