In a Sign of Foreclosure Flaws, Suits Claim Break-Ins by Banks

In an era when millions of homes have received foreclosure notices nationwide, lawsuits detailing bank break-ins keep surfacing, and in the wake of the scandal involving shoddy, sometimes illegal paperwork that has buffeted the nation's biggest banks in recent months, critics say that these situations reinforce their claims that the foreclosure process is fundamentally flawed, the New York Times reported today. Identifying the number of homeowners who were locked out illegally is difficult, but banks and their representatives insist that these situations represent just a tiny percentage of foreclosures. Many of the incidents that have become public appear to have been caused by confusion over whether a house is abandoned, in which case a bank may have the right to break in and make sure the property is secure. Some of the cases appear to be mistakes involving homeowners who were up to date on their mortgages—or had paid off their homes—but who still became bank targets. More common are cases in which a homeowner was behind on payments, perhaps trying to work out a modification, when bank crews changed the locks. Banks and their contractors insist that the number of mistakes is minuscule given the hundreds of thousands of new foreclosure cases filed each month.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/business/22lockout.html?_r=2&hp