Lenders To Find Themselves In Crosshairs Over Premature, Illegal Evictions Of Foreclosed Homeowners

In Chicago, Illinois, Chicago Public Radio reports:

• [Sam] Frazier's house had been sold at a foreclosure auction just the day before he was locked out of it. But in Illinois, that sale doesn't automatically transfer ownership of a house. A judge still has to issue an order that confirms the sale was done properly, and also to say how much longer the homeowner may continue to live there -- usually 30 days.

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• Kelli Dudley has been practicing consumer and foreclosure law for nearly a decade. She and two other attorneys have taken on Frazier's case, and they say they're seeing a number of similar stories. They're trying to identify common threads in these cases to mount a class-action lawsuit. Right now, their big target is U.S. Bank, based in Minneapolis. Dudley says it probably wasn't anyone from US Bank who boarded up Frazier's home, but she asserts the bank is ultimately responsible when any of its agents, or agents of its agents, do something illegal.

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• Dudley says there's another thing about these cases they're seeing. "Even if there is an order of possession, we've still got the hurdle to get over that only the sheriff or the authorized person can do the eviction." Frazier says the man who locked him out of his home wouldn't give any ID, but Frazier says he certainly wasn't from the Cook County Sheriff's department.

For more, see Homeowners Struggle to Challenge Premature Evictions.