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MSNBC Reports Bank of America Wrongfully Forecloses on House and Bird

A few weeks ago we first reported that Bank of America is alleged to have wrongfully foreclosed on a home in Pennsylvania and stolen the homeowner's pet bird.  MSNBC just ran a story on the lawsuit against BOA that resulted from this wrongful foreclosure.  MSNBC reports that BOA padlocked the door on the home of Angela Iannelli of Alleghany County, Pennsylvania even though Ms. Iannelli was current on her mortgage payments.  MSNBC also indicated that BOA's contractor damaged furniture in the house and took Ms. Iannelli's pet parrot named Luke.  Luke was later returned unharmed.

This latest wrongful foreclosure adds to reported BOA wrongful foreclosures in Florida, Massachusetts, Kentucky and Texas.  Our research has revealed wrongful foreclosures reported against BOA and other banks in seven different states. 

A consistent theme has developed in these types of cases.  It appears that the "property preservation" companies hired by the banks periodically check properties owned by the banks in an effort to determine if the properties are "abandoned."  There is no standard for determining if a property is, in fact, abandoned. 

We are hearing that all these bank contractors sometimes do is talk to neighbors about the status of the home, look in the windows for activity within the home and then conclude that the home is abandoned.  This less than diligent assessment has lead to the bank's contractors breaking into and padlocking  homes that are not abandoned and which the bank had no legal right to enter.  In some circumstances, the bank's contractors also appear to be breaking into the wrong homes because of an error in paperwork or because of sloppy due diligence.

Homeowners have little or no way of preventing this type of wrongful foreclosure.  The only way this practice will stop is if the banks take these lawsuits brought by Phillips & Garcia and other law firms seriously enough to implement policies and practices to prevent wrongful foreclosures. Until that happens, homeowners may need to take their pets to work with them.