Do State Courts Follow Suit?
April 23, 2008 Return to Predatory Lending: Developments and Pending Litigation Facing overloaded state court foreclosure departments, some lenders and law firms began pursuing residential foreclosure actions in federal court based on diversity jurisdiction. In response to this trend, and to insure strict compliance with jurisdictional requirements, the Northern and Southern Districts of Ohio issued General Orders detailing specific pleading requirements for foreclosure actions based on diversity jurisdiction. See, e.g., General Order No. 07-03 (SDOH) and General Order 2006-16 (NDOH) On October 31, 2007, Judge Christopher A. Boyko issued the first of several key decisions in Ohio strictly enforcing standing requirements and the General Order governing foreclosures based on diversity jurisdiction. In his decision, Judge Boyko dismissed numerous pending foreclosure actions for lack of standing because the lenders failed to establish a chain of title to the loans. While the decision was,
