[Haggar]

Originally Posted by Boffin

As the cost of living in the U.S. continues to climb, foreclosures are also on the rise.

May foreclosure-related filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, were up 7% from April and up 14% from a year ago, to 35,196 properties, according to the real estate data group ATTOM.

Lenders began the foreclosure process on 23,245 properties in May, up 4% from last month and up 5% from a year ago. States with the most foreclosure starts in May included Florida, where 2,901 foreclosures got underway, followed by California, with 2,451 foreclosures started, and Texas, where 2,286 properties fell into the foreclosure column.

Add to that the companies that bought second mortgages and HELOCs from banks that deemed them uncollectable are going after homeowners whose property values have increased to the point that these second "mortgages" are now collectible. WSJ journal had an article about a homeowner who was foreclosed by a company going after a mortgage - that with accumulated interest and costs came to $160,000. Homeowner had no idea he was still liable for the second. But - in fairness - why should the homeowner be able to walk about from debt he incurred?