Its own process server confirmed she lived there. Huntington mailed someone else
An Ohio appeals court vacated Huntington National Bank's foreclosure judgment after finding the bank botched service of process on the borrower.
The Second District Court of Appeals threw out the judgment and decree of foreclosure on September 25, 2026, ruling Huntington failed to properly notify the borrower before obtaining a default judgment and ordering the Trotwood home sold.
The borrower purchased 332 South Broadway Street in Trotwood in May 2021, financing it with a $69,762 loan from TCF National Bank at 2.75 percent interest. Huntington later obtained the mortgage through an assignment from Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for TCF. A blank allonge indicated Huntington was TCF's successor by merger.
In November 2025, Huntington filed the foreclosure action, alleging the borrower had defaulted and owed $63,569.95 plus interest and late charges.
Here is where the story turns. Huntington tried certified mail and a process server at the property address. The process server could not reach the borrower but reported that "contact cards have been removed without a callback," a dog was barking inside, and a neighbor confirmed she lived there. No certified mail came back undeliverable.
Despite that, Huntington shifted attempts to a nearby but wrong address - 348 South Broadway. Certified mail went there three times. Each return showed the borrower did not live there.
Huntington then moved for service by publication, filing an affidavit stating the borrower's residence was unknown. The trial court granted it. The borrower never responded, and the court entered a default judgment and decree of foreclosure in April 2026.
Representing herself on appeal, the borrower argued she had been "unaware of the progression of the foreclosure case" because documents went to the wrong address.
The appeals court agreed unanimously. The judge noted that Huntington's own records - including a Montgomery County auditor screenshot - showed the tax mailing address at 332 South Broadway was in the borrower's care. "The record itself refutes that her current address was unknown," the court wrote. "It is axiomatic that Huntington would be unable to locate a new address for Gosnell if she continued to reside at her last known address."
The court found Huntington failed to exhaust proper service under Ohio Civil Rule 4.1 before resorting to publication, violating the borrower's due process rights.
For servicers and foreclosure counsel, the takeaway is direct: service by publication is a last resort, not a workaround when personal service proves inconvenient.
