A few weeks ago, I told you about irregularities in the accounting of foreclosures:

One researcher found errors or “questionable” fees in almost half the cases she examined: interest rate miscalculation; late fees; overnight mail fees; “demand fees”; payoff statement fees; property inspection fees over and over; checks lost or outright destroyed by the lender or mortgage service company. Mostly little fees here and there, they add up quickly and often exceed $10,000.

Today, we have “Federal agency investigates foreclosures by Countrywide“:

The U.S. agency monitoring the bankruptcy courts has subpoenaed Countrywide Financial, the largest mortgage lender and loan servicer in the United States, to determine whether the company’s conduct in two foreclosures in southern Florida represented abuses of the bankruptcy system.

The subpoenas for Countrywide documents were issued in late October by the U.S. Trustee after the federal agency announced an effort to move against mortgage servicing companies that file false and inaccurate claims in foreclosure cases. The inquiries into Countrywide by the trustee’s office, a division of the Justice Department, come as foreclosures are increasing across the country.

The ways that lenders and loan servicers deal with troubled borrowers are also coming under increased scrutiny by judges. In recent weeks, three federal judges in Ohio have dismissed 73 foreclosure cases brought by lenders and loan servicers against borrowers because the companies failed to show proof that they owned the notes underlying the properties they were trying to seize.

In an environment where foreclosures are up 94% over last year, this is an issue that will be important — and hopefully heavily scrutinized — over the next several months.

Perhaps unrelated, but still a follow-up: even though the UN says that the American housing market is a “drag” on the world economy, at least new home sales were up last month. When all is said and done, we all need a place to call home.