Ohio Appeals Court Affirms Foreclosure Judgment in Berkeley Road Property Tax Case

The Ohio Court of Appeals, Eighth Appellate District, affirmed a foreclosure judgment against a taxpayer in a long-running property tax dispute involving a Berkeley Road property in Cuyahoga County. The taxpayer challenged assessed valuations for tax years 2009 through 2017, but admitted that estimated taxes were not paid during the pendency of those challenges and that taxes were owed. The appellate court held that the taxpayer’s valuation arguments were barred by res judicata because the valuation methodology had previously been litigated and resolved by the Ohio Supreme Court. The court further rejected the taxpayer’s equitable “unclean hands” defense, finding insufficient ...