Columbus, OH – On Monday, The Buckeye Institute joined Pacific Legal Foundation in filing an amicus brief asking the Ohio Supreme Court to hear U.S. Bank v. Summit County, which challenges the ability of county landbanks to seize property without compensating owners or banks with a financial stake in the property. 

“Under Ohio’s landbank statute, counties can essentially take property out of the foreclosure process without paying for it,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute. “While the idea of taking abandoned or tax delinquent property has an appeal, the current practice—where owners or banks are not compensated—violates the fundamental principle in our state and federal constitutions that the government can take property for public use only when it provides just compensation to property owners.”

In the typical foreclosure process, foreclosed property would be sold at auction, and the bank would recoup part of its loss. Under Ohio’s landbank statute, lenders or other lienholders are deprived of their interest in the property without any compensation. This practice not only violates the Fifth Amendment, but also means that lenders’ losses are passed on to other consumers.

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UPDATE: March 23, 2022, the request to hear the case was granted by the Supreme Court of Ohio.