Dayton Bar Association

DBA Hosts Event to Kick Off Ohio’s Foreclosure Prevention Initiative

Judicial and legal officials leading local participation in the state’s “Save the Dream” Foreclosure Prevention Initiative discussed this new program at the Dayton Bar Association on Tuesday, April 1.

Gov. Ted Strickland, Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, and Rob Ware, president of the Ohio State Bar Association announced the partnership to provide much needed legal resources for families in or facing foreclosure in a news conference in Columbus also on April 1.

Statewide, 1,100 volunteers, mostly lawyers and a few paralegals, have volunteered to help, said Ken Brown, spokesman for the Ohio State Bar Association. DBA Executive Director William Wheeler confirmed that more than 50 lawyers in the greater Dayton area have volunteered and more are stepping forward daily.

Leading the local assistance efforts for at-risk homeowners are Helenka Marculewicz, Executive Director of the Greater Dayton Volunteer Lawyers Project; William Wheeler, Executive Director of the Dayton Bar Association; the Honorable Mary Katherine Huffman, Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge; Edward Marks, Litigation Director of Legal Aid of Western Ohio (LAWO); and Branford Brown, Managing Attorney of the LAWO Dayton Office.

According to Stanley Hirtle, an attorney with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality Dayton Office, over 5,000 foreclosure cases were filed in Montgomery County in 2007. Montgomery County experienced a 25% increase in filings from 2005 to 2006. Currently, the county’s foreclosure rate is second in the state. By December 2007, one of every 58 homes in Ohio was in some stage of foreclosure and Judge Mary Katherine Huffman noted that over 50% of the Court’s docket is foreclosure related. “Save the Dream” is a coordinated, integrated and comprehensive response to the foreclosure crisis by the State of Ohio to help Ohioans remain in their homes.

“We are willing to help. We want to help people. We want to help people stay in their homes,” said Helenka Marculewicz of the many attorneys that have volunteered to assist those who are currently facing foreclosure or are at risk of losing their homes. Branford Brown added, “Working together, [we] will greatly increase the number of families that can keep their homes.”

Fundamental to the success of the initiative is the availability of pro bono (unpaid) attorneys and the use of mediation, where possible, between homeowners and lenders. Individuals needing assistance can call 888-404-4674 or go online to www.savethedream.ohio.gov. Attorneys wishing to participate in this initiative should contact Helenka Marculewicz at 461-3857.

DBA Executive Director William Wheeler (left) and Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Katherine Huffman (second from left) speak with local reporters April 1 following the announcement that area legal agencies have partnered together to participate in the state's "Save the Dream" Foreclosure Prevention program which offers free legal services to families facing foreclosure.