Common Pleas

Local Rules VII.A., B., & C. specifically govern foreclosure, partition and quiet title cases in Lake County.

Local Rules VII.A., B., & C. specifically govern foreclosure, partition and quiet title cases in Lake County.

The principal difference at the outset is the necessity to file (with the complaint) guaranteed evidence of the state of the record title of the property. See Rule VII(A)(1).  This document is referred to as a Preliminary Judicial Report and will reflect the name of the record owner, a legal description of the parcel of land, and a listing of all interests in the property that appear of record. All parties with an interest in the property are necessary parties to the foreclosure case and must be named in the complaint.

The case may be dismissed after notice for such failure.

A motion for default judgement is immediately reviewable by the court.

Any evidence necessary to support your claims, including an affidavit establishing the extent of your damages, a military affidavit, and a final judicial report, together with and a proposed judgment entry and decree.

As part of the decree of foreclosure, the purchaser at sheriff’s sale is awarded a “writ of possession.” This allows the purchaser to evict the former owners of the home without the need to file a separate eviction case.   The purchaser must notify the Sheriff’s Department that he or she desires to have the previous owner evicted. At this point a representative of the Sheriff’s Department will notify the previous owners of the house in question of the date by which they must vacate the premises, usually within two weeks of the notification.

Once the plaintiff and any other parties who have claimed a lien on the property have been paid out of the sheriff’s sale proceeds, the party who owned the property at the time of sheriff’s sale is entitled to any remaining funds.   In order to receive these funds, the owner of the property at the time of sheriff’s sale must file a motion to distribute balance of funds with the Clerk of Court.

A partition case is filed where two or more people own property together, no longer wish to do so, and cannot agree on listing the property for sale or how the money realized in a sale would be shared by the parties. In a partition case, the Court will determine how the funds realized from the sale are to be distributed to the parties and order the property to be sold at sheriff’s sale unless the parties are able to reach some other agreement during the pendency of the case.

A quiet title case is filed when a party claims an interest in property which is allegedly invalid and negatively effects the title of a parcel of property.   Examples of such interests include encroachments by fences or buildings and unreleased but paid mortgages or judgment liens.   If the party seeking to quiet title proves that the interest is invalid, the Court will declare the interest null and void.

In order for a person to qualify to be appointed and commissioned as a notary public, the person must have attained the age of eighteen years and be a citizen of the state of Ohio. A notary public shall be appointed and commissioned as a notary public for the state. The secretary of state may revoke a commission issued to a notary public upon presentation of satisfactory evidence of official misconduct or incapacity.

Before the appointment of a notary public is made, the applicant shall produce to the secretary of state a certificate from a judge or justice of the court of common pleas, court of appeals, or supreme court that contains a statement that the applicant is of good moral character or has passed an examination under any rules that the judge or justice may prescribe, and is a citizen of the county in which the applicant resides.

Each notary public, except an attorney admitted to the practice of law in this state by the Ohio Supreme Court, shall hold office for the term of five years unless the commission is revoked. An attorney admitted to the practice of law in this state by the Ohio Supreme Court shall hold office as a notary public as long as the attorney is a resident of this state or has the attorney’s principal place of business or primary practice in this state, the attorney is in good standing before the Ohio Supreme Court, and the commission is not revoked. Before entering upon the duties of office, a notary public shall take and subscribe an oath to be endorsed on the notary public’s commission.

A notary public who violates the oath of office required by this section shall be removed from office by the court of common pleas of the county in which the notary public resides, upon complaint filed and substantiated in the court, and the court, upon removing a notary public from office, shall certify the removal to the secretary of state. The person so removed shall be ineligible for reappointment to the office of notary public.

Before entering upon the discharge of his duties, a notary public shall provide himself with the seal of a notary public. The seal shall consist of the coat of arms of the state within a circle one inch in diameter and shall be surrounded by the words “notary public,” “notarial seal,” or words to that effect, the name of the notary public and the words “State of Ohio.” The seal may be of either a type that will stamp ink onto a document or one that will emboss it. The name of the notary public may, instead of appearing on the seal, be printed, typewritten, or stamped in legible, printed letters near his signature on each document signed by him. A notary public shall also provide himself with an official register in which shall be recorded a copy of every certificate of protest and copy of note, which seal and record shall be exempt from execution. Upon the death, expiration of term without reappointment, or removal from office of any notary public, his official register shall be deposited in the office of the county recorder of the county in which he resides.

Before entering upon the duties of the office of notary public, a notary public shall leave the notary public’s commission with the oath endorsed on the commission with the clerk of the court of common pleas of the county in which the notary public resides. The clerk shall record the commission in a book kept for that purpose. The clerk shall endorse on the margin of the record and on the back of the commission the time that the clerk received the commission for record and make a proper index to all commissions so recorded. For recording and indexing a commission, the fee of the clerk shall be as provided in section 2303.20 of the Revised Code.

The secretary of state shall maintain a record of the commissions of each notary public appointed and commissioned by the secretary of state under this chapter and make a proper index to that record.  The governor’s office shall transfer to the secretary of state’s office the record of notaries public formerly kept by the governor’s office.  The secretary of state’s office shall maintain that record together with the record and index of commissions of notaries public.

A notary public may, throughout the state, administer oaths required or authorized by law, take and certify depositions, take and certify acknowledgments of deeds, mortgages, liens, powers of attorney, and other instruments of writing, and receive, make, and record notarial protests. In taking depositions, he shall have the power that is by law vested in judges of county courts to compel the attendance of witnesses and punish them for refusing to testify. Sheriffs and constables are required to serve and return all process issued by notaries public in the taking of depositions.

A notary public is entitled to the following fees:

For the protest of a bill of exchange or promissory note, one dollar and actual necessary expenses in going beyond the corporate limits of a municipal corporation to make presentment or demand;

For recording an instrument required to be recorded by a notary public, ten cents for each one hundred words;

For taking and certifying acknowledgments of deeds, mortgages, liens, powers of attorney, and other instruments of writing, and for taking and certifying depositions, administering oaths, and other official services, the same fees as are allowed by section 2319.27 of the Revised Code or by law to clerks of the courts of common pleas for like services;

For taking and certifying an affidavit, one dollar and fifty cents.

No notary public shall do or perform any act as a notary public knowing that his term of office has expired.

A person appointed notary public who performs any act as such after the expiration of his term of office, knowing that his term has expired, shall forfeit not more than five hundred dollars, to be recovered by an action in the name of the state. Such act shall render such person ineligible for reappointment.

A notary public who charges or receives for an act or service done or rendered by the notary public a fee greater than the amount prescribed by law, or who dishonestly or unfaithfully discharges any official duties as notary public, shall be removed from office by the court of common pleas of the county in which the notary public resides, upon complaint filed and substantiated in the court. The court shall certify the removal to the secretary of state. The person so removed shall be ineligible for reappointment to the office of notary public.

No notary public shall certify to the affidavit of a person without administering the appropriate oath or affirmation to the person. A notary public who violates this section shall be removed from office by the court of common pleas of the county in which a conviction for a violation of this section is had. The court shall certify the removal to the secretary of state. The person so removed shall be ineligible to reappointment for a period of three years.

The person taking an acknowledgment shall certify that the person acknowledging appeared before him and acknowledged he executed the instrument and the person acknowledging was known to the person taking the acknowledgment, or that the person taking the acknowledgment had satisfactory evidence that the person acknowledging was the person described in and who executed the instrument.

Whoever does any act as a notary public knowing that his term of office has expired shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars. Whoever certifies to the affidavit of a person without administering the appropriate oath or affirmation to the person shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days, or both.

You must come in person to the Clerk of the Common Pleas Court, located in West Annex of the Lake County Courthouse, 25 N. Park Place, Painesville, Ohio.   The entire process of filling out the petition, having an ex-parte hearing, and processing the order will likely take at least an hour.

A SCPO may be very helpful if you are a victim of stalking.  A SCPO may stop the respondent from following and/or threatening you by ordering the respondent to stay away from you for up to five years. A SCPO lets the respondent know just how serious you are about wanting his or her behavior to change.

No.

No, but you will usually be better off having legal representation if the respondent is represented by an attorney.

Yes.  You must be present at the full hearing or your temporary order may be dismissed.   If your personal safety after the hearing is a concern, there are sheriff’s deputies available to escort you to your car.

Yes, if available.

Tape recordings may or may not be used as evidence at the discretion of the court.

Initially, service means that the sheriff or other law enforcement agency gives a copy to the respondent personally.   Any ex-parte SCPO issued by the court must be served on the respondent before a full hearing.   Without service on the respondent, the court cannot hold a full hearing.

If the respondent cannot be served by a law enforcement official, the clerk at your instruction will attempt to serve them by certified mail.  

No.  The respondent cannot be arrested for violation of the order or have a motion for contempt filed against them until they have been served with a copy of the order.

No.  A law enforcement official or an officer of the court must serve the SCPO.

Yes.  Any appeal or objection of a magistrate’s decision must be filed within a specific number of days of the court’s file stamped date on the order.    A transcript of the hearing, from which the appeal is being filed, is usually required by the judge in order to review the decision made by the magistrate at the previous hearing.   The cost of the transcript will be the responsibility of the person filing the appeal.  The judge, upon a filed motion, may allow you to submit an audio recording in place of the transcript.

Contact the Official Court Reporter of the Common Pleas Judge that held your hearing.