According to RealtyTrack, a company that monitors default notices and bank repossessions, foreclosure filings nationwide are up 55 percent compared to this time last year. That means one in every 464 households received a foreclosure filing in July.
The combination of weak housing sales, tumbling home values and tighter lending criteria has left many homeowners with few options to stay in their homes. Many people can't find buyers or refinance into an affordable home. There were about 77,000 homes repossessed nationwide in July.
President George W. Bush signed a bill that could help about 400,000 households.
Meantime in the Los Angeles, the city hopes to use federal aid to buy and resell homes that have already been abandoned. Officials are concerned that vacant properties will lower home values and create neighborhood blight.
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