Meeting Recap March 19, 2008

The first speakers were Kathleen Gedeon, Assistant Vice President of Residential Lending at the Middleburg Heights Dollar Bank and Kelly Jules, Branch Manager of the Independence Dollar Bank who gave a very informative presentation entitled,” The Housing Crisis in Ohio: How It Affects You!” Kathleen and Kelly shared the underlying reasons for the current housing crisis, which includes the complex interaction between predatory and sub-prime Lenders, consumer awareness, and the job loss impact on our local economy. They were well prepared with many supporting facts including the sobering statistic that Ohio has the sixth highest foreclosure rate of all the states. Within Ohio, Cleveland has been impacted particularly hard due to the dramatic loss of manufacturing jobs within the last few years.

Kathleen and Kelly stressed that the current situation does present some significant and very positive opportunities for those who wish to purchase a first home, upgrade to a nicer home, or invest in rental property. The current state of the economy offers positive factors such as low interest rates and banks focusing on well-qualified loan applicants and ensuring their success via a variety of programs. One of the more surprising statistics is that the current crisis is due to just 5 percent of the total mortgages in the US becoming delinquent, compared to the 95 percent of all mortgages which are paid on time! They encouraged those experiencing mortgage related financial difficulty to contact Dollar Bank Mortgage Center at 1-800-820-6051, the Independence branch at 216-447-1505, or www.dollarbank.com to obtain further help or advice.

We were also fortunate to have a second presentation by Daniel Harbaugh of the County Auditor office. Daniel is a Senior Real Estate Analyst, Educational Coordinator and State Certified Appraiser. He shared ideas for increasing the value of your home WITHOUT increasing your property tax. Ideas included re-plumbing, re-wiring and other repairs. Daniel gave a comprehensive overview of how data collectors perform the complex task of assigning home values. Since property taxes are calculated based on home values, he strongly encouraged everyone to regularly keep track of comparable home values. If an appeal is warranted, make a formalized home value appeal to the Board of Revisions at 216-443-7195. He further suggested that the appeal process had a higher chance of succeeding if photos were taken and submitted along with detailed and logical supporting evidence. Elaine Apanaites- Director of Community Outreach and Joanne Laurie-O’Brien – Director of External Affairs, also shared information and forms regarding Homestead Exemptions for senior citizens, disabled persons and surviving spouses. This group of citizens is eligible for some property tax relief. Elaine and Joanne who are tasked with “reaching out to the community “ to ensure all eligible people receive all entitled tax benefits. Daniel, Elaine and Joanne presented very relevant information that “fit” nicely with the Dollar Bank information. We were encouraged to contact the county auditor via the website www.auditor.cuyahogacounty.us if needed for further help or assistance.

The speaker portion of the program ended with a Question and Answer period, followed by the program conclusion at 9:30 p.m.

To view a pdf copy of the presentation by Dollar Bank, visit the Homeowners Website at this URL Dollar Bank Presentation

Next Meeting: The next Homeowners Meeting is scheduled for September 17, 2008.