Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A foreclosure sign hangs on a fence in front of a foreclosed home on in Richmond, California.

A new audit out of San Francisco says nearly all the foreclosures carried out there were done illegally. The audit was sponsored by the San Francisco County Tax Assessor Phil Ting.

Ting made the announcement Wednesday. It is based on a study by an outside firm of nearly 400 of the 2,400 foreclosure sales in the city between January 2009 and October 2011.

Among the violations the firm found were missing signatures by the original owners of the loan and lack of affidavits showing lenders had contacted borrowers to discuss their options 30 days before a mortgage default notice was filed.

Guest:

Gretchen Morgenson, financial reporter at The New York Times.