Committee hears testimony on foreclosure reform to expand private-selling officers, shorten sales periods and change appraisal and advertising rules

Senate Bill 135, presented to the Judiciary Committee by Tony Fiore, legislative counsel for Auction.com, would adjust Ohio’s judicial foreclosure process to expand the use of private selling officers (PSOs), change appraisal and advertising rules, and shorten online sale periods.

Fiore said the bill stems from efforts to make foreclosure sales more efficient and to attract more third-party buyers, arguing that PSOs — licensed real-estate professionals and auctioneers — can market properties more effectively than sheriff’s offices. He told the committee the bill would preserve consumer protections, including the right of redemption, while seeking higher sale prices and greater surplus funds for distressed homeowners.

Key provisions described in testimony include:

- Expanding use of private selling officers in uncontested cases so judgment creditors can select PSOs without summary judicial denial; - Requiring sheriffs to hire appraisers who are county residents and are freeholders, licensed real-estate professionals, or licensed appraisers, and reducing the appraisal return period from 21 to 14 days; - Allowing the second and third weeks of statutorily required advertising to be placed on the PSO’s website or the county’s website (with the first week still in a newspaper at a reasonable cost); - Reducing the statutory bidding period from seven to three days, based on Fiore’s presentation that roughly 90% of bids arrive in the last three days and that most buyers are local (within a 15–20 mile radius).

Senator Gillespie asked about conflict-of-interest risks with PSOs favoring repeat investors; Fiore said the bill contains language addressing conflicts between judgment creditors and PSOs and requires transparent bidding platforms that notify bidders when they have been outbid. Ranking Member Hicks Hudson asked whether buyers tended to be owner-occupants or investors; Fiore said the data does not show whether purchasers are owner-occupants, but the bill’s goal is to encourage third-party buyers who will bring properties up to code and restore taxes.

Fiore also said the bill would not remove sheriff-conducted sales but would provide a path for PSOs across 88 counties and argued the changes would free deputies for other law-enforcement duties. The committee recorded this as the second hearing on SB135 and received written proponent testimony from the Ohio Sheriff’s Sales and Ohio Realtors.