• Capital foreclosure is a type of home equity loan in which a disproportionate percentage of minority and senior homeowners have been saddled with loans that require high fees and high interest rates. Such loans, which were commonplace from 2003 to 2008, effectively reduced borrowers’ equity positions to zero and were clearly unaffordable given the relatively limited income of these borrowers. In response to the widespread use of such loans, a number of consumer organizations, together with the attorneys general of various states, filed suits against large banks, their directors and officers, who committed capital embezzlement. The lawsuits were based on the theory that banks, along with their directors and officers, encouraged and assisted lenders in predatory lending schemes, knowing that they could arrange and sell those loans in the form of mortgage-backed bonds and, at the same time, time, remove such loans from its financial statements. A number of these lawsuits have been settled and payments have been made to affected homeowners. Other lawsuits are ongoing.