As Introduced
135th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 632
2023-2024
Representative Daniels
Cosponsors: Representatives Hillyer, Lorenz
A BILL
To amend sections 2329.01, 2329.151, 2329.152, 1
2329.153, 2329.17, 2329.18, 2329.19, 2329.20, 2
2329.211, 2329.26, 2329.27, 2329.312, 2329.51, 3
and 2329.52 of the Revised Code relating to real 4
property foreclosures. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2329.01, 2329.151, 2329.152, 6
2329.153, 2329.17, 2329.18, 2329.19, 2329.20, 2329.211, 2329.26, 7
2329.27, 2329.312, 2329.51, and 2329.52 of the Revised Code be 8
amended to read as follows: 9
Sec. 2329.01. (A) Lands and tenements, including vested 10
legal interests therein, permanent leasehold estates renewable 11
forever, and goods and chattels, not exempt by law, shall be 12
subject to the payment of debts, and liable to be taken on 13
execution and sold as provided in sections 2329.02 to 2329.61 of 14
the Revised Code. 15
(B) As used in sections 2329.02 to 2329.61 of the Revised 16
Code: 17
(1) "Commercial property" means any property that is not 18
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As Introduced
residential property. 19
(2) "Private selling officer" means a resident of this 20
state licensed as both an auctioneer under Chapter 4707. of the 21
Revised Code and as a real estate broker or real estate 22
salesperson under Chapter 4735. of the Revised Code. 23
(3) "Residential mortgage loan" and "residential property" 24
have the same meanings as in section 2308.01 of the Revised 25
Code. 26
(4) "Sale date" means the day on which an auction for real 27
estate concludes. 28
(5) "Start date" means the first day an auction for real 29
estate is open for bidding to the public. 30
Sec. 2329.151. Except as provided in sections 2329.152 to 31
2329.154 of the Revised Code, all public auctions of goods, 32
chattels, or lands levied upon by execution shall be conducted 33
personally by one of the following: 34
(A) An officer of the court; 35
(B) For the public auction of goods and chattels, a 36
resident of this state licensed as an auctioneer under Chapter 37
4707. of the Revised Code; 38
(C)(C)(1) For the public auction of lands, a private 39
selling officer who is not affiliated with or employed by either 40
of the following: 41
(a) A mortgagee or mortgage servicer; 42
(b) A subsidiary of a mortgagee or mortgage servicer. 43
(2) As used in division (C)(1) of this section, 44
"affiliated with" a mortgagee or mortgage servicer means a 45
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As Introduced
person that, directly or indirectly, through one or more 46
intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common 47
control with, the specified mortgagee or mortgage servicer. 48
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit 49
a mortgagee or mortgage servicer from engaging in a regular 50
course of business with an independent private selling officer. 51
Sec. 2329.152. (A) In every action demanding the judicial 52
or execution sale of real estate in which the debtor has failed 53
to plead or otherwise defend as provided by the Rules of Civil 54
Procedure, the judgment creditor may elect that the real estate 55
be sold at a public auction by a private selling officer. If the 56
judgment creditor elects to have the real estate sold by the 57
private selling officer, the judgment creditor shall file with 58
the clerk of the court a praecipe directing the issuance of an 59
order of sale to the private selling officer. A judgment 60
creditor may specify multiple private selling officers in the 61
praecipe, any of which may conduct the sale. 62
In every other action demanding the judicial or execution 63
sale of real estate, the county sheriff shall sell the real 64
estate at a public auction, unless the judgment creditor files a 65
motion with the court for an order authorizing a specified 66
private selling officer to sell the real estate at a public 67
auction. If the court authorizes a private selling officer to 68
sell the real estate, the judgment creditor may seek to have the 69
property sold by the private selling officer authorized by the 70
court or by the county sheriff. If the judgment creditor elects 71
to have the property sold by the private selling officer 72
authorized by the court, the judgment creditor shall file with 73
the clerk of the court a praecipe requesting the issuance of an 74
order of appraisal to the sheriff and an order of sale to the 75
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As Introduced
private selling officer authorized by the court. Upon 76
Upon the filing of that the praecipe, the clerk of the 77
court shall immediately issue both of the following: 78
(1) An order of appraisal to the sheriff, who shall obtain 79
an appraisal of the real estate in conformity with sections 80
2329.17 and 2329.18 of the Revised Code; 81
(2) An an order of sale to the private selling officer, 82
who, after the return or determination of the appraisal, shall 83
advertise and sell the real estate in conformity with applicable 84
provisions of sections 2329.01 to 2329.61 of the Revised Code 85
using the appraised value established under section 2329.17 of 86
the Revised Code. 87
Within ten days after the issuance of an order of sale to 88
a private selling officer, any lienholder who is a party to the 89
action may file a motion with the court objecting to the use of 90
the private selling officer. If such motion is filed within ten 91
days after the issuance of the order of sale and the court 92
determines there is good and reasonable cause, as defined in 93
this division, the court may order that the sale be reset, 94
republished, and conducted by the county sheriff. 95
As used in this division, "good and reasonable cause" 96
means that the lienholder is more likely to have its lien 97
satisfied, in whole or in part, if the sale is conducted by the 98
county sheriff. 99
(B)(1) As used in this division: 100
(a) "Business day" means a calendar day that is not a 101
Saturday or Sunday or a legal holiday as defined in section 1.14 102
of the Revised Code. 103
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(b) "Remote bid" means a bid submitted in writing via 104
facsimile, electronic mail, or overnight delivery or courier. 105
(2) If the sale of the real estate is conducted at a 106
physical location and not online, then each judgment creditor 107
and lienholder who was a party to the action may submit a remote 108
bid to the sheriff or the private selling officer. Each sheriff 109
and private selling officer shall establish and maintain a 110
facsimile number or an electronic mail address for use by 111
judgment creditors and lienholders in submitting remote bids. 112
Each remote bid shall be of a fixed maximum amount and shall be 113
delivered to the sheriff or private selling officer on or before 114
four-thirty p.m. on the business day immediately preceding the 115
date of the sale date. 116
(3) Before the sale, the sheriff or the private selling 117
officer shall confirm receipt of the remote bid by sending 118
notice of such receipt via facsimile or electronic mail to the 119
judgment creditor or lienholder who submitted the remote bid. 120
During the sale, the sheriff or the private selling officer 121
shall place the remote bid on behalf of the judgment creditor or 122
lienholder who submitted the remote bid. After the sale, the 123
sheriff or the private selling officer shall provide notice of 124
the results of the sale not later than the close of business on 125
the day of the sale to all judgment creditors and lienholders 126
who submitted remote bids. Such notice shall be sent via 127
facsimile or electronic mail to the judgment creditor or 128
lienholder or by posting the results of the sale on a public web 129
site. 130
(4) If a sheriff or private selling officer fails to place 131
a remote bid on behalf of a judgment creditor or lienholder to 132
the prejudice of the judgment creditor or lienholder, then, upon 133
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the filing of a motion to vacate the sale within ten business 134
days after the sale date, the sale shall be vacated. 135
(C)(1) A judgment creditor that obtains a court order 136
authorizing a specified private selling officer to sell the real 137
estate at a public auction pursuant to division (A) of this 138
section may instruct the private selling officer to postpone the 139
sale of the real estate one or more times, provided, however 140
that all rescheduled sale dates shall be within one hundred 141
eighty days of the initial sale date. Upon receiving this 142
instruction, the private selling officer shall postpone the sale 143
of the real estate by announcing that the sale is postponed. If 144
the sale is at a physical location, this announcement shall be 145
made at the sale and shall include the date, time, and place of 146
the rescheduled sale of the real estate. If the sale is online, 147
this announcement shall be made on the auction web site and 148
shall include the date of the rescheduled sale of real estate. 149
Each such announcement shall be deemed to meet the notice 150
requirement in section 2329.26 of the Revised Code. 151
(2) If the judgment creditor does not wish to postpone the 152
sale of the real estate, the judgment creditor may instruct the 153
private selling officer to cancel the sale of the real estate. 154
Upon receiving this instruction, the private selling officer 155
shall cancel the sale of the real estate by announcing that the 156
sale is canceled. If the sale is at a physical location, this 157
announcement shall be made at the sale. If the sale is online, 158
this announcement shall be made on the auction web site and 159
shall remain posted there until at least the end of the seven- 160
calendar-day three-calendar-day bidding period described in 161
division (E)(1)(a) of this section 2329.152 of the Revised Code. 162
(3) If the sale of the real estate is postponed or 163
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canceled as described in divisions (C)(1) and (2) of this 164
section, all bids made on the real estate prior to the 165
postponement or cancellation of the sale shall be void. 166
(D)(1) If the judgment creditor obtains a court order to 167
have the real estate sold by a private selling officer, then: 168
(a) The Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(5) of 169
section 122.17 of the Revised Code, the cost of the appraisal 170
appraisals required by that section 2329.17 of the Revised Code 171
shall be taxed as costs in the case. 172
(b) The cost of the advertisement in a newspaper of 173
general circulation as required by section 2329.26 of the 174
Revised Code, not to exceed fifty dollars, shall be taxed as 175
costs in the case. 176
(c) The fee charged by the private selling officer and all 177
costs incurred by the private selling officer other than the 178
costs described in divisions (D)(1)(a) and (b) of this section 179
shall be taxed as costs in the case up to an amount equal to one 180
and one-half per cent of the sale price of the real estate. To 181
the extent the fees and costs described in division (D)(1)(c) of 182
this section exceed one and one-half per cent of the sale price 183
of the real estate, they shall not be included in the amount 184
necessary to redeem real estate under section 2329.33 of the 185
Revised Code or in the calculation of any deficiency judgment 186
under section 2329.08 of the Revised Code but rather. Rather, 187
the fees and costs shall be paid by the buyer of the property, 188
the judgment creditor, or from the judgment creditor's portion 189
of the proceeds of the sale in an amount not exceeding ten per 190
cent of the sale price of the real estate. 191
(2) The private selling officer shall file with the court 192
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that issued the order of sale an itemized report of all 193
appraisal, publication, marketing, and other expenses of a sale 194
conducted under this section and all fees charged by the private 195
selling officer for marketing the real estate or conducting the 196
sale of the real estate, including the fee charged by the title 197
agent or title insurance company for administrative services, if 198
applicable, and title, escrow, and closing services. Each filing 199
of such itemized report shall be deemed to meet the writ of 200
execution requirement in section 2329.28 of the Revised Code. 201
(E)(1) The private selling officer who conducts a sale 202
under this section may do any of the following: 203
(a) Market the real estate and conduct the public auction 204
of the real estate online or at any physical location in the 205
county in which the real estate is situated. If the auction 206
occurs online, the auction shall be open for bidding for a 207
minimum of seven three calendar days, counted by excluding the 208
day the auction is first open for bidding and, notwithstanding 209
section 1.14 of the Revised Code, including all subsequent days. 210
The online auction shall be conducted in a manner so that all 211
bids are publicly displayed upon entry by the bidder throughout 212
the bidding period described in division (E)(1)(a) of this 213
section. 214
(b) Hire a title insurance agent licensed under Chapter 215
3953. of the Revised Code or title insurance company authorized 216
to do business under that chapter to assist the private selling 217
officer in performing administrative services; 218
(