Dann rebounds from past of scandal

I ran into Marc Dann the other day at the Statehouse.

Yes, that Marc Dann, the one-time state attorney general who resigned amid scandal, becoming the punch line for jokes involving Hawaiian pizza.

Say what you want about Dann and his past, but he’s rebounded from those darker days, shifting his focus to Ohioans struggling with foreclosure issues.

He’s argued related cases before the Ohio Supreme Court, and he’s been vocal in his calls for foreclosure reform.

That’s what brought him to the Statehouse the day I saw him, to testify for legislation addressing a number of foreclosure issues.

“It is no secret that I left office under less than ideal circumstances,” Dann told the Ohio House’s Financial Institutions, Housing and Urban Development Committee in his submitted testimony. “Suddenly I was a lawyer with no job and no clients. At that difficult time in my life, I went to Cleveland Legal Aid and began to work pro bono on about a dozen of the foreclosure files that had come in via the Save the Dream program.”

What he found in those files was “horrifying,” he said in testimony, and Dann has been working since then to help residents work through the legal processes of foreclosure and remain in their homes, if they are able.

VALUE OF HB 463

That’s where HB 463 comes into the picture. The bill, Dann said during testimony, would push abandoned and vacant properties to the front of the judicial line, forcing courts and lenders to deal with them first.

Additionally, “Creating a statutory requirement that loan servicers practice honesty, good faith and fair dealing throughout the loan-modification process would be particularly helpful,” Dann said in testimony. “This provision will give common pleas court judges the ability to hold mortgage- loan servicers accountable and to use the state foreclosure process as a forum for homeowners and lenders to negotiate mutually beneficial workout plans that keep borrowers in their homes and protect the interests of the lending institution.

According to most economists, modified mortgage loans that enable borrowers to realize some equity in the property and offer affordable payments have a higher net present value than that realized through liquidation – especially given the fact that home prices in Ohio are still depressed.”

He added later, “based on the experience our law firm has gained by representing more than 1,000 families facing foreclosure in Ohio over the past eight years, I can confidently say that amended HB 463 will place families facing foreclosure in a better position to stay in their homes, keep their children in the school districts of their choice and to work out a resolution of their foreclosure case that is fair to both them and their lender.”

And, so, there was Dann one day recently, heading down the hall to a committee hearing in the Ohio Statehouse, again fighting for the people he represents.

His visit was in stark contrast to the last time I saw him at the Statehouse, walking out of the governor’s Cabinet room after announcing his resignation, Ted Strickland watching as he headed out the door.

Dann’s current efforts don’t erase his scandalous past, but they are laudable and worthy of your attention.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.