If Montanans are complaining, it must be serious.

“Montana is not a state where people come to their U.S. senator just willy-nilly,” Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.) said during a hearing Tuesday on the foreclosure mess, arguing that there’s no question problems with foreclosure documents and lenders operations go far beyond a few isolated incidents.

His home state has just 950,000 residents and still he has staff members spending “a ton of time” on foreclosure-related problems, Mr. Tester said, detailing two cases involving Bank of America Corp.

Mr. Tester said one of his constituents was told by a bank representative to stop paying his mortgage while the bank reviewed his application for a loan modification. As a result, the man was hit with penalties and his credit score suffered. Mr. Tester said another homeowner he’s helping has been fighting with Bank of America for a year to avoid foreclosure proceedings – after the bank sent him notice that they’d approved his loan modification.

Mr. Tester acknowledged Bank of America has been helpful in working with his office. “Unfortunately, not everybody calls their U.S. senator when they have a problem,” he added.

Barbara DeSoer, president of Bank of America’s home loan business, said her bank’s hands are tied by their investors, who require them to pursue foreclosure at the same time they’re trying to work out a loan modification for a strapped homeowner — what people in the industry call a “dual track” process.

That means a homeowner like the one Mr. Tester described continues to get foreclosure notices even though the foreclosure sale will never take place, Ms. DeSoer said. She said the confusion the dual track process creates is why Bank of America is working with Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller and others to overhaul the system.