Cleveland Heights professor sues his bank for drop in property value

CLEVELAND hEIGHTS, Ohio - William Tabac is a retired Cleveland State University professor of law who has now sued his bank for damages.

Tabac and his attorney, Daniel Thiel, claim Bank of America/Countrywide Loans caused Tabac's Cleveland Heights home to lose $50,000 in value in just three years.

Taback claims his bank issued a series of irresponsible loans to some of his neighbors, causing some of them to fall into foreclosure. Taback claimed the foreclosures causing his property to drop in value, and the value of other Cleveland Heights homes.

Tabac started his fight by stopping mortgage payments to Bank of America in December 2009, looking to get his bank's attention.

"In a contractual relationship, you're supposed to act in good faith," Tabac said. "If one of the contracting parties acts in bad faith, and they start destroying the value of my house, I think that is acting in bad faith."

Bank of America sued Tabac for non-payment, and started foreclosure proceedings. However, Tabac and Thiel filed a suit of their own.  Weeks later, a Cuyahoga County judge ruled Bank of America would have to release details on home loans issued in Cleveland Heights as part of the "discovery" phase of the case.

"We believe the discovery will prove wide sweeping losses in property values caused by the bank," Thiel said.

5 On Your Side contacted Bank of America offices in Chicago, the company provide the following statement:

"At this point both parties are in discovery so we cannot comment on any of the specifics...To date, there has been no ruling on the merits of the case."

NewsChannel5 will continue to follow-up on this developing story  

5 On Your Side invites residents to report vacant/condemned homes in their neighborhood, through the NewsChannel5 Building Better Neighborhoods initiative.

Residents are encouraged to send in pictures and information on distressed properties to our Troubleshooter Facebook or Twitter accounts @joeonyourside . Report a home using your smartphone and our free NewsChannel5 newsnet5.com app .

If you're dealing with a vacant home in your neighborhood, use the Cleveland Housing Court Vacant Home Toolkit , it will guide you through the process of moving a vacant home to progress step-by-step.

NewsChannel5 will bring you a series of reports and updates on the progress made through the Building Better Neighborhoods initiative throughout 2012.