RECORD HIGH NUMBER OF FORECLOSURES

CNN - The number of [foreclosure] filings hit a record high in the third quarter. "They were the worst three months of all time," said Rick Sharga, spokesman for Realty Trac, an online marketer of foreclosed homes. uring that time, 937,840 homes received a foreclosure letter -- whether a default notice, auction notice or bank repossession, the Realty Trac 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.

Nevada continued to be the worst-hit state with one filing for every 23 households. But even tranquil Vermont, where the foreclosure crisis has barely brushed the housing market, saw foreclosure filings jump nearly 170% compared with the third quarter of 2008. Still, that resulted in just one filing for every 5,023 households in the state -- the best record in the country.