The Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court  recently convened a public meeting to unveil their plan to expand the Court's mediation program for home mortgage foreclosure cases. The Court's effort to resolve more of the county's thousands of foreclosures through mediation is part of an initiative announced by
Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer in November. The Supreme Court model is described on their webpage available clicking here.

Summary
Judge Eileen T. Gallagher, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court presented an overview of the proposed Foreclosure Mediation program that the court will enact shortly. Following the presentation Judge Gallagher allowed some time for comments and questions.
 
Key points of the program that were discussed

• Borrower can request mediation; it is not automatically assigned.
• Varies from the Ohio Supreme Court Mediation Program as it is open to all, and not just properties that are owner-occupied or used as rental properties.
• Mediator will review paperwork submitted by the parties and will determine if mediation is appropriate. Mediator will submit notice of decision and case will continue to mediation or to a foreclosure proceeding.
• Varies from the Ohio Supreme Court Mediation Program as it requires two (2) meetings of the parties prior to mediation. At the second meeting lender will be required to have an individual with settlement-making authority present.
• Program will be part of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Dept.
• Current plans entail one full time mediator and several pro-bono mediators.
• Mediators will attend a 1-2 day course with CLE credits.

Several comments were made including;

• Borrowers may have additional parties attend the mediation sessions including attorneys or housing counselors
• Borrowers may have numerous cases brought to mediation if the cases meet the necessary criteria
• The public defender's office should assist in-need borrowers
• Notices should be bilingual, and should state on the front of the envelope and on the top "Not an Eviction" and "Get a Lawyer"

Please note that while the majority of the attendees appeared to be housing advocates there were lender attorneys present. The two comments offered for consideration were:

• The additional costs that the lender will incur due to the extra meeting requirements including travel expenses and attorney costs.
• That any mediation will result in a financial decrease from the lender's "starting point"

To view the presentation, please click here
 
Additional comments, questions, or concerns may be submitted in writing to Judge Eileen T. Gallagher on or before April 7, 2008 at:

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court
Judge Eileen T. Gallagher
1200 Ontario Street 23-C
Cleveland, OH 44113

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