Drop in area foreclosures hits close to home

MANSFIELD- Several years ago Richland County went thru a housing crisis where foreclosures went thru the roof. After leading the state in foreclosures for two consecutive years, a recent housing report now confirms the county is seeing a real estate rebound. One observer who has the title of both Reverend and Realtor makes a unique assessment.

In 2001, Reverend Rick Lewis moved to Shelby to serve as Lead Pastor at Shelby Church of GOD. In addition to being a pastor, he became a licensed real estate agent with Haring Realty.

“There is a lot of optimism in the housing market right now,” says the bi-vocational pastor. “We are probably at a twenty-year high. Recently I had a house that I had not listed and it sold before I could even list it.”

Last month a report by Attom Data Solutions listed Mansfield as having the third biggest decline in foreclosures out of forty-three listed Ohio communities between 2018 and 2019. Compared to one year prior, Mansfield foreclosures in 2019 fell 39.3%.

But the pastor’s appraisal of the good news does not come just from profits in the black, they also come from letters in red found in the Bible.

“I also believe there is a heightened awareness of GOD in this hour. Coupled with the optimism in the housing market, all of this ties together. During our staff meetings at Haring, we have a time of prayer and we share testimonies and prayer requests. We include GOD in our business and He has really blessed us in this season.”

At the beginning of the upswing in 2017, the Richland County Clerk of Courts commented that “foreclosures (in the county) are down significantly.  It’s a huge drop, and I’m not completely sure why.”

It has also not been business as usual for the faith community.

Since 2016, there have been five corporate collaborations of over one hundred clergy to address issues of morality, including last year where in a press conference one hundred-fifty clergy declared 2019 as “The Year of the Bible.” Pastor Lewis was one of those co-signors.

“Clergy from different denominations are joining together on issues where truth has been abandoned,” says Pastor Lewis. “In the same way, government agencies and neighbors are partnering together to take ownership of abandoned properties.”

In 2013, the Richland County Land Bank was established to return properties to productive use, and to clean up blight. Since that time, over 310 dilapidated structures have been demolished and 670 parcels of land have been transferred to landowners who want to take better care of the properties.

“The words ‘a house divided cannot stand’ found in the Bible carries a deep meaning that can inspire us all to be better stewards in our community,” says Reverend Lewis.

The door appears to be closing on recession, and no man’s land is becoming promised land.

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