You may have a point in strictly economic terms, but there is more to losing your home than merely economic harm.  By your logic, I could start foreclosing on homes in California... "so long as they are really delinquent, who cares who forecloses?"

You could do it, but this scam wouldn't work, and you'd likely end up in jail when the right bank discovered what you'd done.  I want the correct entity foreclosing, but I'm not going to stay up nights worrying about fixing problems that don't exist and are unlikely to occur.

And, there may be other defenses to a foreclosure action available - violation of federal disclosure laws, servicing issues, etc.  Shouldn't homeowners have a right to know who is the beneficial interest holder so that they have a chance to fully inestigate the matter?  I don't think it is good public policy to allow an entity to foreclose on behalf of an undisclosed principal.

I agree with you, but it appears the we now have that right.  The Dodd-Frank bill which was passed into law included a requirement that servicers, upon request, inform borrowers of the identity of the owner of their loan within ten days.  I don't think this law was passed in time for Gomes, though-- he originally filed suit in May, 2009.

I don't think we should ever allow anyone to foreclose without proving that they are actually entitled to that remedy.  I don't think that is too much of a burden to place on the lender.  If you are truly entitled to foreclose... prove it.  I don't think the burden should be on the homeowner to prove that the lender is not entitled to foreclose.

I'm not sure.  If I was hearing a significant number of horror stories about wrongful foreclosures in California or states with similar laws, I might agree with you.  There's nothing I read in Gomes' case, for instance, that leads me to believe that he got a raw deal.  And it seems that with California's process, the courts aren't gummed up with assembly line foreclosure proceedings which merely enrich foreclosure mills, make it more difficult and expensive for banks to foreclose, and make it harder for those with legitimate grievances to get timely access to the courts.