A foreclosure is pretty much the worst situation a homeowner can go through. It is stressful, embarrassing, and incredibly difficult to lose a home. Because of this, the government has created extensive regulations regarding foreclosures. These consumer protections are very important and do a lot of distressed homeowners. However, they only work when the banks actually follow the rules.

Banks foreclose on homeowners all the time, and because of this they have extensive rules and staffing to ensure things are handled correctly and all laws are followed.

In the Great Recession, foreclosures skyrocketed to record levels. Each time banks foreclose, they are looking to make the process as efficient and low-cost as possible. One bank got in trouble for cutting corners and fraudulently creating paperwork.

Wells Fargo was charged in New York federal court with fabricating foreclosure papers.

Wells Fargo did not simply overlook the law, they created a fully documented 150-page manual on the bank’s foreclose process which details “a procedure for processing [mortgage] notes without endorsements and obtaining endorsements and allonges.”

In layman’s terms, that means the bank came up with a process for foreclosing on a home without the proper signatures and documentation.

Earlier this year, a New York Federal judge put it into very frank terms. He said that Wells Fargo forged foreclosure documents, and those forged documents do not hold up in court.

Read the entire story at the NY Post.