A unit of Morgan Stanley, the sixth-largest U.S. bank by assets, and other lenders are under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly overcharging soldiers and foreclosing on their homes without court orders. “The Civil Rights Division has an ongoing investigation into Saxon Mortgage and other lenders as well as authorized lawsuits against lenders for violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, specifically for overcharging and foreclosing against the homes of servicemembers without court orders,” Xochitl Hinojosa, a Justice Department spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. Saxon is a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley. The investigation was revealed in a court document filed last week in a lawsuit brought in federal court in Grand Rapids, Mich., by U.S. Army Sgt. James Hurley. He served in Operation Iraqi Freedom starting in 2004 and lost his home through an eviction proceeding in 2005 while he was still in Iraq.

Saxon Mortgage Services Inc. and a unit of Deutsche Bank AG responded in court papers March 8 to an effort by Hurley’s lawyers to subpoena Saxon’s general counsel to learn more about the Justice Department probe.