On Wednesday, April 1, 2020, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine issued Executive Order 2020-08D.

In the order, DeWine “requests” lenders to “provide commercial real estate borrowers with a commercial mortgage loan for property located in the State of Ohio an opportunity for forbearance of at least ninety (90) consecutive days for said mortgage as a result of financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The Supreme Court of Ohio issued an order tolling the time limits for filing pleadings in court cases for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency that the Governor of Ohio declared on March 9, 2020 or until July 30, 2020, whichever is earlier. The Supreme Court of Ohio does authorize courts, on a case-by-case basis, to consider and issue orders to impose time deadlines when immediate attention is necessary.

The Ohio General Assembly enacted a statute last week that tolled time limitations in court proceedings until July 30, 2020.

Taken together, these actions mean that as a practical matter, enforcing mortgages through the institution of foreclosure proceedings with the assistance of the court system until the end of July will wind up being a challenge, if not impossible, in many cases.

Please contact a member of Taft’s Real Estate group for guidance.