Ohio foreclosure lawsuits fall again in 2011

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Lawsuits over foreclosures continued to decrease in Ohio in 2011, according to figures released by the Ohio Supreme Court.

The court said this week that foreclosure case filings dropped 16 percent from 2010's total. In 2010, the state saw a drop in foreclosure filings for the first time in 15 years.

In 2011, the court says 71,556 new residential and commercial foreclosure cases were filed, nearly 14,000 less than 2010. Only two counties, Coshocton and Guernsey, saw an increase.

Though Guernsey's was minor, foreclosure filings were up 94 percent in Coshocton County.

Cuyahoga County, home of Cleveland, saw the most filings with 11,544, though that figure is down 10 percent from 2010.

Of counties with at least 500 filings in 2010, the biggest decreases were experienced by Allen County and Hancock County, both in the western part of the state. After 682 filings in 2010 in Allen, only 472 cases were filed in 2011 - a drop of 30.8 percent.

Hancock County experienced an even steeper decline, from 503 to 336 - a drop of 33.2 percent.

Seventy-five of Ohio's 88 counties reported double-digit decreases, and 10 counties reported 30 percent or greater declines.

The court says it collects the data every month to measure the pace of incoming litigation for case management purposes.

From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at jobrienwv@gmail.com.