Maryland Court of Appeals judges mused yesterday on the case of the Columbia cab owner who lost his home to foreclosure though he'd never missed a payment. (He refinanced his mortgage but could not prove the original loan had been paid off because, Larry Carson reports in a story today, "several key documents, including the settlement check itself, were lost by financial institutions.")

Scott C. Borison, attorney for homeowner Kwaku Atta Poku, wants him to be able to recoup his losses.

"You're asking us to do something we haven't done before," said Judge Dale R. Cathell, according to Carson's story. Cathell added later: "I don't mean to say there's not been a wrong done. How is it corrected? I just don't know how to do it."

Judge Irma S. Raker asked a question raised by many since Carson first reported on the predicament: "How could Mr. Atta Poku have avoided all this once this train started moving?"