Quick Facts

-  Judicial Foreclosure Available: Yes
-  Non-Judicial Foreclosure Available: No
-  Primary Security Instrument: Mortgage
-  Timeline: Typically 150 days
-  Right of Redemption: Yes
-  Deficiency Judgments Allowed: Yes

In Ohio, lenders may foreclose on a mortgage in default by using the judicial foreclosure process.

Judicial Foreclosure
Generally, in judicial foreclosure, a court decrees the amount of the borrowers debt and gives him or her a short time to pay. If the borrower fails to pay within that time, the clerk of the court then advertises the property for sale.

At some point prior to the scheduled date of foreclosure, an appraisal of the property must be made by three disinterested freeholders of the county. A copy of the appraised value must be filed with the court clerk and the property must be offered for sale at a price of not less than two-thirds of said value.

The sale may not take place until the notice of sale has been published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the property is located. The sheriff will conduct the sale at the courthouse and the property will be sold to the highest bidder.

Lender's may obtain a deficiency judgment and the borrower may redeem the property at any time before the court confirms the foreclosure sale by paying the amount of the judgment, plus costs and interest.

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