Robo-signing their lives away

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Eddie Miller fought for his country in the Gulf War, but now he's battling just to keep his home.

"When you're in a position that you're losing everything, you have a feeling that it's your fault, that you've done something wrong," Miller says.

Miller was kicked out of his home and lived out of his car for a month until those at Miami Valley Fair Housing discovered that his foreclosure case involved a practice known as robo-signing.

Robo-signing is when a someone signs off on a foreclosure without reviewing it first, or when someone forges a signature to approve a foreclosure.

Miami Valley Fair Housing has since helped Miller move back into his home.

"It's a wonderful feeling to have your house again and to know someone is there to help you with it," Miller says.

Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and a host of local officials spoke Tuesday about putting a stop to robo-signing and other practices that they say have left neighborhoods broken down and boarded up.

"We cannot expect our communities in times of still high unemployment to fully recover from the problems of the economy until we can get housing straightened out," Brown says.

As Senator Brown talked, the row of empty homes behind him told the story.

In the Santa Clara neighborhood where he spoke, officials say nearly half of the homes are vacant.

The situation is getting so bad that one man felt the need to interrupt Brown to complain about the break-ins at his properties.

"Everytime I come back I have to go in and redo the properties from scratch and it's getting really discouraging for me," says Marvin Statler, who told 2 News he owns 17 properties in the Dayton area.

Statler isn't alone in his frustration with the foreclosure issue and its side effects.

Miller may be back in his home, but he's not sure if he'll be able to keep it. He's still trying to work out a deal with the bank.

"It is a terrible feeling to know you can be just kicked out of your house," Miller says.