When Does Statute of Limitations Begin to Run For Claim Alleging Negligent Real Estate Appraisal?

Flagstar Bank, FSB v. Airline Union's Mortgage Company et al., Case nos. 2010-0508 and 2010-0511

1st District Court of Appeals (Hamilton County)

ISSUE: Does a cause of action for professional negligence under R.C. 2305.09(D) accrue on the date the negligent act is committed, or on the date the negligent act causes actual damages?

BACKGROUND: Chapter 2305 of the Ohio Revised Code sets forth time limits, called "statutes of limitations," within which a plaintiff (a party who claims to have suffered financial loss or other injury) may file a civil lawsuit against a defendant (a party allegedly responsible for the plaintiff's loss or injury) in order to recover damages. Claims based on different "causes of action" (types of alleged harmful conduct ... for example, breach of a written contract and negligent performance of a professional service) are subject to different statutes of limitations. Under most statutes of limitations, if a plaintiff fails to file suit within a specified number of years after the defendant's alleged harmful conduct took place, the plaintiff is thereafter permanently barred from suing the defendant based on that conduct.