In Massachusetts, making a loan that a lender could not reasonably expect to be repaid in the absence of steadily increasing real estate prices may be an unfair and deceptive practice under state law, in which event the lender may not be entitled to foreclosure, according to the Supreme Judicial Court in an action brought by the Attorney General in October 2007.
Many States' attorneys general are moving toward enforcement of State consumer protection and anti-fraud laws against national banks, since they were given a limited green light by the US Supreme Court in June 2009 (Cuomo v. Clearing House Ass'n), according to this NYT report. Naturally, the banks are promoting, with some success already, federal legislation to preempt state law.