There’s a warm wind swirling around this country right now, and it may just blow the hat off of your head…and take along with it everything else you own as well. This breeze that is gaining strength is yet the latest fallout from the foreclosure hurricane sweeping the nation.

The New York Times recently reported in two related stories that in some instances, homeowners who have already lost their homes to foreclosure are now faced with suffering the greatest embarrassment of all — having their personal items auctioned off.

In the case of Newington, Conn., the story says that it’s the town itself that is required by an antiquated 19th Century state law to collect and store the belongings of people who have been ejected from their homes by state marshals. The law requires the town to store the items for a minimum of 15 days before it can auction off the personal property if no one should claim it.

This law used to present no problem at all. However, with the rise in foreclosure activity throughout the state, more and more personal property is being stored, causing a growing problem for municipalities around the state.

Attempts to repeal and reform the law have proven unsuccessful.

By contrast, the other Times article speaks to people who have lost their homes to foreclosure and have stored their personal belongings in pay-as-you-go storage facilities. In the present economic environment, evidence is mounting apparently that people who can’t keep up with their mortgage payments also can’t keep up with paying the monthly rent on their storage unit. This goes on for just so long before the management of the facility auctions off the contents of the unit — basically sight unseen — to the highest bidder.

It’s a growing cottage industry, as the Times notes. And again it is just further proof that the national economy is not getting better fast enough for many people who are being forced to start from ground zero in the aftermath of the subprime crisis that is still winding its way through the system.

It is also evidence that the foreclosure market has not bottomed out yet and that for patient and cautious home buyers and real estate investors, there are people out there who can use your help in the midst of a really critical financial storm that is literally blowing them away.