Leading Consumer and Homeowner Rights Attorneys: Protecting Families, Achieving Economic Justice

National Problem with Illegal Foreclosures and Seizures of "Abandoned" Homes?

As we have been reporting here, the illegal foreclosure and seizure of homes by banks is a growing problem.  We have reported the casesand incidents that we have heard about.  There is no doubt that there are more cases out there that banks have tried to keep from public disclosure.  

We have seen the following situations where a bank illegally seized a home: 1) the bank had the wrong house; 2) the borrower was up to date on mortgage payments; 3) the borrower was up to date on a loan modification agreement; 4) the bank sold the house to the new owner in a short sale and then foreclosed after the short sale; 5) the borrowers were preparing to leave the home due to an upcoming short sale closing or an auction date and the bank seized the home prior to the date. 

In all of these instances, the banks had no right to possess the home.  The bank simply had no right to trespass and break and enter these folks homes.

We are seeing a common pattern from the banks. The banks' foreclosure and trash-out contractors run visual checks on houses where their are mortgages to determine if the houses are "abandoned."  The problem is there is no way to determine if a house is abandoned from just looking in the window from the outside or talking to neighbors.  Even a house that appears vacant does not mean it is has been abandoned by the owner.  An owner is legally entitled to move possessions out his house in advance of a sale or auction without bank interference unless the bank has the legal right to enter the property. 

It is a lot like the "Wild West" out there right now with banks "shooting first and asking questions later."  We have said it many times on this blog, until the banks write and then implement the proper policies and procedures these wrongful and illegal bank foreclosures and seizures will continue.