While many states have taken steps in recent years to strengthen the rights of renters, only a handful of states have updated their home foreclosure laws, which are now "tilted against homeowners" and acting as a little-understood factor that is helping to accelerate the U.S. home foreclosure crisis, according to a major new report by the National Consumer Law Center. Based on a survey of existing state laws, the NCLC report identifies some of the most antiquated state law provisions, including "fast track" foreclosures without any court oversight in 30 states and no requirement of direct notification to homeowners in 33 states upon the initiation of foreclosure proceedings.

Titled "Foreclosing A Dream: State Laws Deprive Homeowners of Basic Protections," the new NCLC report concludes: "In recent months, a wave of foreclosures has swept millions of American families from their homes. The magnitude of this crisis defies easy comprehension: more than 8 million American families are expected to lose their homes to foreclosure in the next four years. Much has been written about the financial and economic causes of this disaster. Much less notice has gone to another factor that has accelerated and multiplied this grave loss of homes and savings: antiquated state laws that in some ways afford fewer protections to homeowners than to renters."

According to the NCLC report, examples of state laws tilted against homeowners include the following:

* "Fast track" foreclosure. In 30 states and the District of Columbia, mortgage holders who allege that homeowners have fallen behind in their payments can bypass the courts and move directly to take away and auction off homes. This denies homeowners due process protection comparable to that given many tenants. It also places upon homeowners the heavy burden to get a judge to review the mortgage holder's claims and stop the foreclosure.

* No direct notification of foreclosure proceedings. In 33 states and the District of Columbia, there is no requirement that homeowners be personally served with a foreclosure notice or legal documents that start a court foreclosure case.

* No effort required to find solutions short of foreclosure. In every state but California and Connecticut, mortgage holders can move directly to foreclosure without being required by state law to consider or discuss ways to avoid loss of the home with homeowners, such as through modification of the terms of the loan.

* Eleventh-hour payments can be ignored. In 29 states, a mortgage holder has no obligation under state law to stop foreclosure even if the homeowner, just before the house has been sold, comes up with the money to catch up on the owed payments and all incurred penalties and fees.

* Heaping on of penalties that can send homeowners over the edge. In every state but Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, a mortgage holder who claims a homeowner has fallen behind in payments can immediately impose default fees and costs that reduce the chances that the homeowner can catch up by making the payments owed.

* More penalties even after home is lost and sold at auction. In 36 states and the District of Columbia, mortgage holders can pursue so-called "deficiency judgment" claims against homeowners even after the foreclosed home has been sold at auction. These claims, seeking to recover the difference between the amount owed on the loan and the amount collected from the foreclosure auction, can be pursued without conditions in 15 states and the District of Columbia, and only under certain conditions in the other 21 states.

John Rao, staff attorney and report co-author, National Consumer Law Center, said: "The bottom line is that most state laws are not part of the foreclosure crisis solution today; they are a big part of the problem. Most Americans not well-versed in property law would assume that homeowners have greater rights than renters, or at least equal rights. The stark reality is that while most states updated their landlord/tenant laws decades ago to give renters basic due process protections in the eviction process, no similar reform effort has been made to assist homeowners in the foreclosure process. Many state foreclosure laws were enacted in the 19th and 20th centuries and have gone largely unchanged since that time. These laws came into effect at a time when the residential mortgage industry, to the extent it existed at all, bore no relation to what exists today. Significantly, these laws pre-date the enormous changes in the mortgage market that began in the 1980s."