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Abuse of process is discussed in the legal definitions and legal terms dictionary of U.S. Legal Forms, Inc. (at http://definitions.uslegal.com/a/abuse-of-process/) as follows:

"Abuse of process refers to the improper use of a civil or criminal legal procedure for an unintended, malicious, or perverse reason. Examples include serving legal papers on someone which have not actually been filed with the intent to intimidate, or filing a lawsuit without a genuine legal basis in order to obtain information, force payment through fear of legal entanglement or gain an unfair or illegal advantage. The determination of what in unfair and wrong is for the court to determine on the individual facts of each case. Lawyers who can be proven guilty of intentional abuse of process can be subject to discipline and punishment. Sometimes abuse of process may occur accidentally, such as an honest belief in mistaken facts used to bring a lawsuit against an improper party, but such missteps may be corrected through voluntary measures."

This standard, however, does not seem to apply to the "mass-foreclosure industry" which has grown out of the current mortgage crisis. In fact, the foreclosure frenzy is making the legal community windfall profits as they turn the so-called "toxic assets" (i.e. the mortgages that have been shuffled around Wall Street in such a manner and method as to create, at the very least, a questionable right to foreclose them) into whatever cash they can get at the demise of millions of homeowners across the country. In the process, they enjoy holding the "foreclosure gun" to peoples' heads as they extract every dime they can.

Whether or not many of these foreclosures are legal doesn't appear to be a concern to the Obama administration or the power-house financial institutions calling the shots. After all, these homeowners defaulted on their payments.

But look who is calling the kettle black! Uncle Sam himself is not only defaulting on his payments, but has "over-drawn" the nation to the tune almost $12 trillion dollars, the current national debt, with a GDP of about $15 trillion and an annual budget of just over $3 trillion!

Nevertheless, abusive or not, Uncle Sam believes these foreclosures are "healthy" for the economy and will contribute to a "recovery."

Whose recovery?

- Ed Smith