Foreclosures Making A Comeback

RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed homes, says that despite concerted government-led and lender-supported efforts to prevent foreclosures, the number of filings hit a record high in the third quarter. "They were the worst three months of all time," said Rick Sharga, spokesman for RealtyTrac. During the third quarter, 937,840 homes received a foreclosure letter -- whether a default notice, auction notice or bank repossession, the RealtyTrac report said. That means one in every 136 U.S. homes were in foreclosure, which is a 5% increase from the second quarter and a 23% jump over the third quarter of 2008. During the third quarter, a record 237,052 homes were repossessed, a 21% jump from the previous three months. So far this year lenders have taken back 623,852 homes in total.