The Great Swindle: How to Stomach Knowing the Banks Are Stealing a Nation's Worth of Homes, One Home at a Time

"I did not lose my home, they stole it from me," explains Bertha Herrera, 63-year-old chaplain from Van Nuys, Calif. Bertha was evicted from her home of 32 years at gunpoint by LA County Sheriffs on Jan. 5, 2012. An hour later, with her possessions spread out over the lawn she'd tended since Jimmy Carter was in office, while a dozen Occupy LA and Occupy the Hood activists helped gather her belongings, 10 LAPD squad cars arrived to "protect and serve" the crew Coldwell Banker had sent over to board up her house.

Bertha had been late on one payment.

"There must be more to the story," you might insist. Yes, plenty more. But first, check your assumptions. Are you thinking the homeowner probably did something wrong? Or are you thinking the banks and auction house and Sheriff and LAPD probably did something wrong?

Read on.