Housing judge hammers the banks

No arrests were made. Pianka, who issued the warrant last month, relented after KeyBank promised to have a lawyer in court Tuesday.

On the bank's behalf, Columbus attorney Edward Kochalski pleaded not guilty to neglecting violations at a house on East 171st Street in the South Collinwood neighborhood.

Pianka has yet to rule on the bank's guilt, but his action demonstrates the animosity that cities have for lenders, who officials say often take back property and let it rot.

Court records show the East 171st Street house is not in foreclosure. But Pianka said Lorenzo Hibbits, who is listed as the owner, said the bank had changed the locks on him.

"Under our code, if you take possession and control of a property, you are responsible for it," Pianka said.

Kochalski declined to comment. Hibbits was supposed to be in court Tuesday but did not show and could not be reached to comment. Pianka said he would order the arrest of Hibbits.

Officials say lenders who take back homes from delinquent borrowers often cloud ownership by leaving homes in the names of the displaced owners.

Pianka regularly deals with former owners who say they no longer care for their houses because banks threw them out.

Foreclosures have surged in Cuyahoga County, and critics have attacked Common Pleas Court for letting cases drag, sometimes for years. Cleveland Councilman Mike Polensek recently complained that slow court action has left homes in his North Collinwood ward to rot.

At the court's request, he furnished a list of 90 abandoned properties in his ward. The court found that lenders owned 18 of them.

Only seven were in foreclosure. Ten other foreclosures had been dismissed, delayed by bankruptcy or other factors or were nearing sheriff's sales.

In another Cleveland Housing Court case, Pianka fined National City Bank $10,000 in January for violations found in September at a house on East 175th Street in South Collinwood.

The bank pleaded not guilty in October but changed its plea to no contest in January.

The house, placed in foreclosure 13 months ago, went to sheriff's sale Monday. National City reclaimed it after no one topped the bank's $30,000 bid.

National City's lawyer Charles Palmeri, said that the violations were minor and that the bank was making repairs. Pianka said he might reduce the fine substantially if the repairs are completed.

Palmeri speculated that cities are more frustrated with out-of-state lenders that don't care about their reputation in Northeast Ohio. He said National City was conscientious.

"They make sure the properties they have an interest in are at least secured and the exteriors are cleaned up," he said.

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Housing Judge Hammers the Banks