A recent decision by the California Supreme Court will allow some former homeowners to pursue lawsuits and possibly win damages for alleged wrongful foreclosure, even if they were in default. California now joins other states where such challenges are allowed, including Ohio, Massachusetts and Texas.

The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that although the Supreme Court opened the doors, there are questions to how successful foreclosed homeowners will be.

Legal experts said it’s highly unlikely that former homeowners could unravel their foreclosures and win back their homes, given strong legal protections afforded to those who currently hold title to the homes.

The decision to hear the cases of former homeowners affected by the foreclosure crisis was inspired in part by “robo-signing” scenarios, where employees of mortgage firms signed off on foreclosure documents even though they had no authority to do so.

Some borrowers’ queries were bounced around to various employees who gave different answers. Others were confused over who actually owned their loan since mortgages were resold.