Lawyers for the foreclosure arm of Bank of America argued Tuesday that when it sells a home in Utah it is governed by Texas law and not Utah statutes.

That assertion came in arguments in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City where ReconTrust and BofA are being sued over what Utah attorneys contend were years of illegal foreclosures in Utah.

Under state law, only a practicing attorney or a title company with offices in Utah can file a notice of default with county recorders that starts the foreclosure process.

But in a proposed class-action lawsuit being heard by U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart, ReconTrust said the National Bank Act gives it the power to foreclose from whatever state its operations are based. That state is Texas.

"Texas would be the state law that applies," Amy Miller, an attorney for ReconTrust, told Stewart.

The judge is being asked by ReconTrust to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the law firm of Mumford West & Snow on behalf of Utah homeowners who were under foreclosure.

Attorney Marcus Mumford said Utah law was designed so that a homeowner facing foreclosure could call someone in the state to discuss the problem and, perhaps, reach an agreement to avoid the loss of a home. But with ReconTrust foreclosing from Texas, homeowners who call get only a recording.

"ReconsTrust says no, what we want is to put Utah homeowners into Dante’s Inferno, ‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here,’ " Mumford said.

He argued that under ReconTrust’s interpretation, Texas law would govern all aspects of foreclosure in Utah

Last August, ReconTrust stopped foreclosing under its name on Utah properties after Attorney General Mark Shurtleff threatened a lawsuit, although it continues to foreclose. Last year, the Utah Legislature also passed a law that allows homeowners to collect damages and attorney fees for illegal foreclosures, a measure aimed at practices such as those of ReconTrust.

Stewart said he would make a decision on the case as soon as possible, but mentioned that other federal judges in Utah have ruled on opposite sides of the same question.

Reconciling those rulings "requires some prudence on my part," the judge said.

Ultimately, it will be the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that will decide the issues for Utah, said attorney Craig Mariger, who represents another Utah attorney, Stuart T. Matheson, who is also being sued for his role in the foreclosures.

"We don’t know what the law of the state is" until the 10th decides from among the various lower-court decisions, Mariger said.

tharvey@sltrib.com

Twitter: @TomHarveysltrib