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84 MICHIGAN Foreclosure Prevention Efforts in Effect ere are roughly 60,000 homes behind on their property taxes in Detroit, Michigan. Many of these homeowners may qualify for a full or partial property tax exemption—families facing financial hardship, residents living in poverty, and disabled veterans may be eligible to stay in their homes with a recently announced program to combat foreclosure issues, according to a release from Quicken Loans Community Investment Fund (QLCIF). In light of these issues, QLCIF has part- nered with the United Community Housing Coalition (UCHC) and eight community development organizations to address the pervasive issue of tax foreclosure in Detroit. is door-to-door outreach will attempt to reach all the residential properties behind on property taxes and connect residents at risk of tax foreclo- sure to resources. is program is part of a wider initiative to maintain the integrity of Detroit neighborhoods and ensure Detroiters have the opportunity to build equity as the city continues to grow. According to QLCIF, "Underutilized tools to prevent foreclosure include a property tax exemption for owner-occupied homes and an option for disabled veterans." "No one organization can do this work alone," said Laura Grannemann, VP of Invest- ments for the QLCIF. "We need everyone working together to connect Detroit residents with the tools that will keep them in their homes and allow them to continue building equity as the city grows." In May 2017, the QLCIF partnered with UCHC to knock on the doors of 3,300 oc- cupants of Detroit homes facing the 2017 tax foreclosure auction. e outreach effort helped the residents of 2,100 homes ultimately avoid tax foreclosure and remain in their homes. OHIO Industry Stakeholders Meet with Legislators to Discuss E-notarization Legislation By Gail Hersch Ohio State Senators Steve Wilson and Matt Huffman hosted a September meeting to dis- cuss legislative action regarding electronic nota- rization (e-notarization). e meeting was also attended by stakeholders from the Ohio State Bar Association, Ohio Recorders' Association, Ohio Society of Notaries, several representa- tives' aides, and private notary companies. e current legislation is viewed by many as problematic, largely because of the perception that it failed to create rules for e-notarization. at responsibility has been left to the Secretary of State. Discussion focused on making sure proposed legislation was as functional and comprehensive as possible. Conversation also addressed identifying existing laws regarding notaries and recording processes that will need to be amended. Key suggestions for legislative action dis- cussed include: - Repealing the existing law to remove any perceived deadline for the Secretary of State to engage in rulemaking. - Drafting amendments to current notary laws that potentially provide for consolidating registering, background checks, training, and testing at the state level, whether for e-notaries or all notaries. - Drafting amendments to current recording laws for any additional recognition of and pre- sumptions regarding electronic documents. - Drafting a new bill that considers and parallels RULONA (Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts) as adopted in Texas. Regarding the latter, discussion included how to identify the security and record retention policy goals without approval of specific vendors and identifying policy goals for the scope of e-notarization (i.e., how far Ohio will go in rec- ognizing notary acts performed in other states versus giving authority to its notaries to perform acts in other states). ere are presently two scenarios consid- ered acceptable for e-notarization. In the first, the principal can be anywhere, but the notary must be in Ohio for Ohio property (i.e., Ohio residents executing documents for out-of-state property appearing before an Ohio notary while the Ohio residents are outside of Ohio). In the second, the principal can always be in Ohio, regardless of where the property is located (i.e., non-Ohio residents executing documents while in Ohio before a notary in a different Ohio county regarding out-of-state property). An alternative approach is the Virginia model, where the principal can be anywhere and the property can be anywhere. Review of the notary laws and proposed legislation is ongoing. e challenge to produce an effective bill is bolstered by the collaboration between the legislature and industry partici- pants. Gail Hersh is President of Allodial Title LLC, a Manley Deas Kochalski, LLC company. He is a member of the Ohio Land Title Association and Columbus Bar Association's Real Estate Committee. of Ohio Realtors believe the state's housing market is much more active than usual. Meanwhile, 30 percent of respondents reported the market is staying the same, and one-third of respondents said it is less active. Source: Ohio REALTORS November 2017 Housing Market Confidence Index. STAT INSIGHT 37% of Detroit metro home values that have increased over the past year. Source: Zillow's September 2017 Home Value Index STAT INSIGHT 8.5%

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