Ohio Governor Mike DeWine orders 90-day pause in foreclosures
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine offered more relief in the battle against COVID-19 on April 1 by ordering a 90-day deferral of payments and foreclosures on commercial loans.
Carrie Ghose of the Columbus Business Journal writes that the deferral is designed to help landlords missing rental revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The order, which according to Ghose “closes a loop created by earlier government actions to help those who have lost jobs during the pandemic statewide stay-home-order,” was welcome news for Ohio businesses, but it also raised several questions.
“The order is to stop any pending or future foreclosures in addition to a ‘request’ by the governor's office to add any deferred principal and interest to the end of a loan,” said David H. Gunning II, chair of McDonald Hopkins Real Estate Practice Group. “This should help with cash flow for businesses in order to keep people employed and position companies to be able to restart in the future. It is a good idea. What we don’t know yet is what “teeth” this order actually has. It raises a lot of questions.”
