On July 24, 2020, Mike Sikora presented to the Ohio State Bar Association’s Council of Delegates – consisting of over 200 lawyers from all throughout Ohio – on suggested improvements to Ohio’s Judgment Lien Statute.  Those recommendations presented by Mike Sikora were approved by the Council of Delegates, and now the Ohio State Bar Association will take the lead on advancing this initiative through its legislative advocacy process.

The Supreme Court of Ohio recently decided a dispute involving commercial real estate and held that, absent an express reservation, the right to receive rents from a lessee runs with the land and follows legal title.  See LRC Realty, Inc. v. B.E.B. Properties, 2020-Ohio-319.  The Supreme Court of Ohio’s decision in LRC overturned a lower court’s decision regarding a dispute over whether the buyer or seller was entitled to receive rental payments from the owner of cell tower located on the commercial real estate that had been transferred to the buyer.  The LRC Court summarized the general rule in Ohio that all real property rights transfer with title, unless there is a clearly stated reservation of rights to the contrary.  Thus, the Court concluded that the buyer was entitled to those rental payments, despite the seller’s receipt of some of them and the seller’s mistaken belief that it was entitled to receive them and keep them.

In a recent Supreme Court of Ohio case, the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision flexed its muscles over a deal involving the foreclosure of tax-delinquent abandoned land.  See State ex. rel. Feltner v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision, 2020-Ohio-3080.  The property in Feltner had been the subject of a board of revision foreclosure case.  In Feltner, the owner contended that the board of revision lacked authority to preside over the foreclosure of his property, arguing that the statute was and is unconstitutional.  The Supreme Court of Ohio disagreed, reasoning that the Ohio General Assembly clearly gave the BOR statutory authority to proceed, and that grant of authority was constitutional.

Feltner is a good reminder of an increasingly used method of foreclosure and how a prior transfer (and arguments over the legitimacy of a prior transfer) could affect your deal, your title, and your development.

Check out the article in Properties Magazine written by Mike Sikora regarding Commercial Real Estate and COVID-19.

The Supreme Court of Ohio recently decided a case involving an entity transfer sale – one of the hottest subjects in Ohio commercial real estate right now.  See Columbus City Schools Bd. Of Edn. V. Franklin Cty Bd. Of Revision, 2020-Ohio-353.  That case dealt with a property tax valuation determination made by the Board of Tax Appeals, stemming from the sale of a 264-unit apartment complex that was accomplished through an entity transfer with a purchase price of $35,250,000.  The Board of Tax Appeals determined that an arm’s length sale had occurred in that case and rejected the opposing appraisal on the basis that purchaser had not rebutted the presumption that the entity sale price established the value of the property.  This decision is unfavorable for the commercial real estate industry because the many transactions take place by the way of an entity transfer, and because under our current systems, that is an essential structure to make certain deals work.

To read that full Decision, click here.

During the end of 2019, the Dower Abolition Bill (HB 209) received its first Hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee.  One of the criticisms that keeps surfacing concerning the Bill is the risk of abuse of power in certain marriages when one spouse is in title and the other is not, and the spouse in title strips the equity from a marital residence through a sale or refinance.  Senator Matt Huffman stated that there are ways to avoid that abuse, and he called out for a compromise on this issue.  Certain Ohio domestic attorneys continue to assert that dower remain in place.  Mike Sikora has recently been asked to present to leadership of the Ohio State Bar Association on this subject.