I’ll see me in court!

Perhaps it’s the perfect ironic coda to the housing market meltdown in the U.S.

Since so many houses are being foreclosed after multiple mortgages piled up too much debt on properties that just weren’t worth it any more, lenders who sue to foreclose have now started suing themselves — at least, that’s what Wells Fargo did in one Florida case, where it held both the first and the second mortgage on a condominium.

The should-be-snafu was first noted on Consumer Warning Network, which noted that Wells Fargo has hired competing attorneys to file the lawsuit and to defend itself against itself. The story’s in this video:

Then the tale was picked up by Fox Business columnist Al Lewis:

“You can’t sue yourself,” McKillop said. “It’s just so ridiculous. .. It’s a waste of paper. It’s a bastardization of the legal process.”

Wells Fargo’s two law firms didn’t return messages to explain their filings.

The condo owner is belly up and hired McKillop to pursue a “friendly foreclosure,” attempting to escape any lingering liabilities after the foreclosure sale.

“It was a property they thought they were buying as a good investment as a lot of people did back in 2005 and 2006,” McKillop said. “All we want to do now is get this property taken care of as fast and as easily as possible for all parties.”

Rather than suing itself — a stunt that was never even attempted on the MTV show “Jackass” — wouldn’t it be easier for Wells Fargo to release one of the liens to itself? Or pursue some other internal accounting strategy rather than tie up the court with nonsense?

“This is just folks cranking out paperwork without conscious thought,” said Anthony Sabino, a law professor at St. John’s School of Law in New York City.

(via Slashdot)