Former Attorney General Marc Dann, who’s been specializing in foreclosure cases, argued for George and Bridget Kuchta, a Medina County couple battling with Bank of America over the foreclosure of their home in Hinckley in 2011.
The big issue here for Dann is that Bank of America didn’t hold the mortgage at the time -- Wells Fargo held it until nine days after the foreclosure process began.
Dann told the justices this movement of mortgages is common in foreclosures, but is a growing practice in other financial transactions, such as debt buying.
“What is at stake here is a much more important principle," he said, "and the principle is that this can be applied not just in the foreclosure context, but across the board."
Bank of America attorney Scott King said the issue of whether his client could foreclose was settled by the trial court, and he said a ruling for the Kuchtas could keep open foreclosure cases for years.
“They would know they could always come back and set aside the judgment," King said. "That can’t be the law – that would encourage the inefficient use of judicial resources.”
This was Marc Dann’s first appearance before the Ohio Supreme Court since 2012, when it suspended his law license for six months for ethical violations that happened around the time of the sexual harassment scandal that cost him his job as Attorney General in 2008.
