Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann suffered his first setback in a novel effort to slow foreclosure filings in the state - and in doing so had his ethics questioned by a Hamilton County magistrate, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
Dann argued that lenders can't foreclose unless they can prove they own the mortgage they say is in default. Because paperwork proving ownership often lags behind as lenders buy and sell mortgages, foreclosing lenders don't always have the paperwork to prove that they're the mortgage owners. Traditionally, courts have allowed the foreclosures to proceed anyway.
Common Pleas Court Magistrate Michael Bachman rejected Dann's argument, noting that Dann was acting against the interests of his clients - the taxpayers of Ohio - by moving to dismiss foreclosure cases in which the state has liens against the properties.
Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann suffered his first setback in a novel effort to slow foreclosure filings in the state - and in doing so had his ethics questioned by a Hamilton County magistrate, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
