FORECLOSURES

The number of home foreclosures in process and delinquent mortgages rose during the second quarter, while home retention actions also rose, U.S. bank regulators said on Wednesday.

More than a year and a half into America's worst housing crisis since the Great Depression, rising unemployment is pushing ever more homeowners in rural Ohio toward foreclosure.

U.S. mortgage foreclosure filings in August hovered near July's record high despite broad efforts to keep borrowers in their homes and will probably rise for another year, according to a report released on Thursday.

The lowest mortgage rates in 3 months had U.S. consumers clamoring for home loans last week even as the government said on Wednesday it expected millions more foreclosures.

The lowest mortgage rates in 3 months had U.S. consumers clamoring for home loans last week even as the government said on Wednesday it expected millions more foreclosures.

Only 12 percent of U.S. homeowners eligible for loan modifications under the Obama administration's housing rescue plan have had their mortgages reworked, and millions more foreclosures are coming, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

Only 12 percent of U.S. homeowners eligible for loan modifications under the Obama administration's housing rescue plan have had their mortgages reworked, and millions more foreclosures are coming, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.

Florida's economy is shrinking in another crippling blow to the housing market of the state, which leads the United States in foreclosures and is grappling with record levels of unemployment.

U.S. home loans failed at a record pace in July despite ongoing federal and state programs to avoid foreclosures, which have severely strained housing and the economy.

Companies that service risky residential mortgages are warning U.S. officials that a key program to slow foreclosures may push some financing costs higher and derail their efforts, said a leading subprime firm.

U.S. home foreclosure activity galloped to a record in the first half of the year, overwhelming broad efforts to remedy failing loans while job losses escalated.

Some economic observers are predicting another wave of foreclosures later this summer or in the fall. That's because lenders that have held off on foreclosures as part of President Obama's plan will now move forward aggressively to clear the backlog of troubled mortgages.

U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April's record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as President Barack Obama's rescue programs had not had time to fully take root, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April's record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as President Barack Obama's rescue programs had not had time to fully take root, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April's record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as President Barack Obama's rescue programs had not had time to fully take root, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

Unemployment is a bigger reason for missed mortgage payments than high interest rates, according to a study from the Boston Federal Reserve that raises questions about President Barack Obama's plan to stem foreclosures by modifying loans.

Columbia Business School and Columbia Law School announced on January 7 a new joint proposal to stem foreclosures through loan modifications.

U.S. home foreclosures for January increased 57 percent from a year earlier, but the pace at least temporarily subsided in response to private and government efforts to help homeowners, RealtyTrac said.

For hundreds of thousands of Americans facing spiraling mortgage costs, the last hope of keeping their home may lie in a classroom in a back office of a local nonprofit group.

Countrywide Financial Corp, the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said on Wednesday that foreclosures and late payments rose in December to the highest on record, sending its shares tumbling for a second day to their lowest in nearly 13 years. Shares fell 11.9 percent in afternoon trading.

Cities in California, Florida and Ohio dominated the 25 U.S. metro areas with the highest home foreclosure rates, though rates jumped in most of the top regions during the third quarter, RealtyTrac said on Wednesday.