February Foreclosure Activity Declines

Foreclosure activity in Ohio fell in February by 6 percent as compared with the previous month. The foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac says banks repossessed 82 percent more Ohio homes in February, as lenders try to sell amid a market of rising home prices.  National foreclosure activity fell last month by nearly 10 percent to the lowest level in more than seven years.  Meanwhile, Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio is co-sponsoring a measure to make permanent a law protecting renters from sudden eviction during a foreclosure. The law passed in 2009 requires a bank or other receiver to allow tenants to occupy the home until the end of the lease. Tenants would have the right to sue landlords who fail to comply if the law is extended. Brown says 40 percent of people affected by foreclosures are renters. The law expires at the end of the year.