"The equitable case is the widespread fraud and deception involving subprime mortgages raining down on innocent homeowners following the Wall Street crash and the corporate greed that caused it. This is the ugly license fostered by massively one-sided, fine-print contracts.

"The strictly legal case stems from the fabricated documents, the phony paper trails under the enforcement purview of many state attorneys general in courts around the country. From robo-signing to fake service of the summons, to back-dating, to altered affidavits, to the absence of the required legal papers simply proving ownership by the bank or other foreclosing agent, the takeovers are on flawed ground. Some of this activity amounts to networked criminal enterprise."

See here for more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-perspec-0202-homes-20120202,0,4369029.story