AKRON, Ohio – The Cuyahoga County judge charged in the county corruption investigation for allegedly fixing a foreclosure case has been found guilty on three of the five charges he was facing.

The federal jury returned the verdict against Judge Steven Terry shortly before 2 p.m. Monday in Akron.

Terry, who was facing five charges, was found guilty of counts one, three and four – which were related to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud. Our reporter in the courtroom said Terry remained calm as the verdict was read.

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Frank Russo charges suggest he corrupted county judges

Published: Thursday, September 09, 2010, 6:10 PM     Updated: Thursday, September 09, 2010, 9:09 PM

Leila Atassi, The Plain Dealer

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The charges filed Thursday against Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo offer the most detailed description yet of the suspected corrupt activities of two Common Pleas Judges — one of whom is seeking re-election.

Excerpts:

In exchange for his help, Russo wanted control over the outcome of certain [of Terry’s ] civil cases, according to the charges. The docket Terry inherited included numerous civil foreclosure cases involving Russo’s close friend O’Malley, who was representing one of the litigants. American Home Bank was seeking $190,000 in damages from O’Malley’s client.

O’Malley called upon Russo to wield his influence over Terry and convince the judge to deny motions for summary judgment in the case to force it to a settlement.

According to the charges, Russo called Terry in July 2008 and asked, “Did (a county employee) give you the case numbers? … I talked to you about this once before … it’s about denying the motions for summary judgment.”

Yep, I still have the note you gave me,” Terry replied.

“Okay, good, so deny the motions for summary judgment, okay, good. …I just wanted to touch base with you on that,” Russo said.

The following day, Terry reported to Russo that he had followed through on his promise.

“I called just to tell you that I took care of those two issues with those two cases that we talked about. … Denied everything.”

Continue Reading…CLEVELAND.com

DO NOT wait for the Government for as you can see you are the least of their concerns…Fight this, if you don’t know how? Get educated, hire an attorney, hire a forensic company, FIND HELP!

Don’t procrastinate or you will be homeless.

By Aaron Marshall, The Plain Dealer June 01, 2010, 5:35AM Cleveland.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Foreclosure legislation is headed back into the freezer until fall.

Senate Republicans had considered moving legislation designed to increase protections for renters and require registration for loan servicers as a watered-down substitute for a stronger foreclosure moratorium bill passed more than a year ago by House Democrats.

But Senate Finance Chairman John Carey, a southern Ohio Republican, said this week that the plug has been pulled on any foreclosure legislation because he didn’t get much support for his Plan B.

The GOP inaction on the issue has angered housing advocates and the House bill’s sponsor.

“I’m entirely frustrated. This has been a year these bills have been sitting over there, and now we are going to have to wait six more months,” said Bill Faith, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio. “I don’t understand how you can see record levels of foreclosures month after month after month, year after year after year, and do nothing.”

The most recent statistics from the Ohio Supreme Court show that the first quarter of 2010 had 24,711 foreclosure filings, 9 percent above last year’s record-setting first-quarter figure. In Cuyahoga County, 3,722 foreclosures were filed, far above the 2,974 foreclosure actions filed in the first quarter of 2009.

Rep. Mike Foley, a Cleveland Democrat who sponsored the House bill, which included a six-month moratorium on home foreclosures, said he was “disgusted” by the plan to break for summer with no action by Republicans.

“They are ideologically in line with the big banks. They have a bunch of people who couldn’t care less. They are impractical. Take your pick,” said Foley. “I’m really angry. We had been sending messages that we wanted to sit down and talk, and they never even bothered to call.”

Maggie Ostrowski, spokeswoman for the Senate Republican caucus, led by Senate President Bill Harris, said that many in the GOP just don’t believe in government fixes to the problem.

“Fundamentally, Senate President Harris and other members of the caucus don’t believe that the government is going to solve the foreclosure crisis,” she said. “They believe a good economy and good-paying jobs is where we need to put our focus.” DinSFLA: YOU CAN’T EVEN SOLVE THE JOBLESS CRISIS…THERE GOES OUR ECONOMY! If you can’t do the job find a replacement! WE NEED COMPETENT LEADERS…NOT AMATEURS!

While the moratorium idea never had any legs among Senate Republicans, Carey said a House provision that would give notification to renters that an owner has filed for foreclosure has support among his caucus.

“They have not exactly bought into that language, but they have bought into the concept of notification of renters,” Carey said.

The substitute bill that Senate Republicans had considered gave renters the right to be notified only if landlords provided a list to the court of their tenants.

“It seemed unworkable — why would a landlord provide a list?” said Faith.

Carey said his caucus is also interested in some sort of registry for loan servicers, although probably not close to what House Democrats wanted, which raised fees on servicers to pay for increased regulation. He also said a Senate Republican bill that would steer foreclosure actions into court-ordered mediation is still a possibility for this fall.

“We haven’t closed the door on that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor urged state lawmakers to study the foreclosure problem in urban neighborhoods with high rates of absentee landlords in an opinion released this week in a Cleveland court case.