Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in North Carolina

Dear Donna and Jim,

I am sorry about your circumstances. You should direct part of your question to an Ohio real estate attorney and ask about the Ohio foreclosure laws. Some states allow deficiency judgments and some do not. I am not admitted in Ohio so I cannot advise you on Ohio law.

Assuming that Ohio permits deficiency judgments, then there are time limits for bringing a deficiency judgment action. It could be 6 months, 1 year or more. Whether the bank will come after you or not depends on your circumstances. If you have very little, my guess is that the bank will just let it be as they will not get anything out of you. If no action is brought within the time period, then you are good to go.

If a deficiency action is brought against you, it would probably be done in Ohio. If you own nothing in Ohio, then there is nothing for the bank to get. All there is is a piece of paper saying that you owe a deficiency of X dollars. If the bank wants to collect, it will have to transfer any Ohio judgment to North Carolina and go through a process to register it here. Once it is registered (again assuming that the bank has gone through the proper procedure), then it can try to enforce the registered judgment. The judgment then would be treated just like an NC judgment.

Assuming that you live with your children and don't get too much other than Social Security or retirement benefits, they probably will not get too much. However, I would not worry about this today. All along the process, you will be notified of the Ohio foreclosure and the transfer of the judgment to North Carolina, if that occurs. It could take years for this all to occur. If and when it does happen, there are things that you can do to legally keep the money from their grasp so if the unthinkable occurs, then I would act and not before.