Banks Illegally Foreclose On An American Hero

Sgt. James B. Hurley (pictured) was foreclosed, his family evicted and their home sold while the Sergeant was deployed in Iraq on active military duty.

Violating the law seems to be OK as long as your a large financial institution like Deutsche Bank or Morgan Stanley. A Federal judge ruled that these institutions violated a federal law. The Service Members Civil Relief Act (SRCA) is designed to protect active military personnel from creditors due to the nature of and responsibility to the service they perform.  Hurley's home and property was sold by the bank, after evicting his wife and children in 2005, less than 2 months before the Sergeant returned from war disabled and retired.

                                                Sgt. James B. Hurley near his former home

Even today, 7 years later these banks continue their court battle in order to avoid paying Hurley any punitive damages claiming that he only has a right to fair market value of the home when it was sold. Clearly this is not the only screw up by banks and just as clearly people like the Hurleys continue to suffer under the heavy handedness and incompetence of banks and the attorneys that represent them. It is beyond appalling to me. Hey lets give these banks a big fat bailout from our tax dollars so they can continue screwing people like the Hurley's every day. Courtesy of a story in the N.Y. Times




George Sinacori