Newsday reports from New York. "The number of houses on the market on Long Island and in Queens increased last month, the MLS of Long Island said yesterday. According to the MLSLI, 30,313 houses were available on the Island and in Queens in February, about 5,000 more than in January. Real estate experts said they are seeing a significant number of potential buyers, but that the buyers are holding off on purchases to see if prices drop."

"Pearl Kamer, economist for the Long Island Association, said more homes on the market could spell trouble for the region, particularly if, as anticipated, there are more foreclosures among subprime borrowers."

"'If we have significant foreclosures on the subprimes, those are going to be added to the inventory,' Kamer said. 'That's a potential danger.'"

"Edmarie Fletcher, a sales associate in Westbury, said that although plenty of people have stopped in to look, 'there are very few offers coming in because people want to wait to see if prices drop.'"

"Bay Shore resident Thomas Vitti is getting over the threshold just under the wire: If he and his wife don't close on their new home in Islip Terrace by the end of the month, they won't be able to buy it at all."

"That's because the crisis in the market for subprime mortgages is changing products and standards so rapidly that the mortgage he's been offered won't be available in April. 'Once we were close to getting our mortgage, a few weeks ago, the market took a dive and I was like, 'This isn't good for the mortgage rates' - and I was right,' Vitti said."

"Realtors and mortgage brokers across the Island are reporting that 100 percent financing is a thing of the past. 'It's absolutely true that deals are falling apart,' said Ed Munteanu, whose Islandia-based New World Capital does 60 percent of its lending to people with poor credit histories."

"He said that in the past six weeks, 30 to 35 percent of the subprime loans he has handled have fallen through as lenders and investors have tightened their guidelines."

"'Those prices they were seeing in late 2005, they're gone, they're history and they're not coming back. At least not any time soon,' said Bethany Marten, president of Home Buyers Resource Center and Mortgage 1,2,3 in Baldwin."

The New York Journal News. "To see what happens when a slowing housing market meets a high-risk mortgage market, just stop by the lobby of the Westchester County Courthouse nearly any day of the week."

"RealtyTrac reports a continuing rise in the number of homes entering foreclosure in Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties. 'It's a perfect storm of events,' said Gary Brown, director of consumer protection for Westchester County."

"'It's pretty bad,' said Gerri Levy, executive director of the Rockland County Housing Action Coalition. 'Some people I really feel for and other people I think were taken advantage of by the banks. I had a woman call me this week who makes $24,000 a year and the bank gave her a mortgage for $360,000. Honestly, I can't see how much more predatory a loan could be.'"

"'When banks start losing money, it will get worse,' Levy predicted. 'There will be less room to negotiate.'"

The Free Press from Vermont. "Foreclosures in Chittenden County jumped 37 percent from 2005 to 2006. The problem is not limited to Chittenden County. Foreclosures increased roughly 23 percent in northwestern Vermont, according to a Free Press analysis."

"When property values were increasing more than 10 percent a year, as they have been in Chittenden County for the past six years, it provided a reserve fund homeowners could tap at will. 'They could sell the house or they could borrow more to cure the default. Now, we have a flat or declining market, and those options aren't available,' attorney Joshua Lobe said."

"Homeowners have been 'borrowing significantly' against their home through secondary mortgages in recent years, he said."

"'The biggest problems with the foreclosures today is we are dealing with out-of-state lenders,' said attorney Ray Obuchowski of Bethel. 'And unfortunately, the days of negotiating with your local lender has gone by way of the buggy whip.'"

The Republican from Massachusetts. "Michael J. Farrell specializes in helping people in various kinds of financial distress. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the problems were mostly due to plunging real estate values."

"'Now it's the subprime lenders who have caused these problems,' Farrell said. 'What we're seeing is extremely high debt-to-expense ratios, where a typical bank would never write the loan,' Farrell said."

"He pointed to John Quick's case, where Quick's girlfriend has an annual income of about $7,000 to $9,000 from her waitressing job, and the mortgage company loaned her nearly $273,600 last July to buy their house from Quick."

"Quick, who had been out of work and was facing foreclosure, contacted a mortgage broker he had used before who found a lender to give Quick's girlfriend a $273,600 mortgage to buy the house from him, so they could both continue to live in it."

"They went from an 8.9 percent mortgage to 11.5 percent, and from a monthly payment of $1,700 to $2,700. Now they're facing a foreclosure auction Tuesday morning on their Warren home."

"'We got bilked big-time,' Quick said. 'The guy I trusted' said the monthly payment was going to be lower than the $1,700 month he had been paying."

"Farrell added that the documents contain forgeries submitted by the broker to NovaStar Financial, the lender. Farrell said that lender NovaStar Financial has not responded to six letters regarding Quick's case."

"'It's a perfect storm of problematic circumstances,' said Bruce Spitzer, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bankers' Association."

The Boston Globe. "With record numbers of Massachusetts homeowners facing foreclosures, Secretary of State William F. Galvin today will urge the Legislature to require mortgage lenders to get permission from local judges before they seize the homes of delinquent borrowers."

"'You have the right to dispute a parking ticket but not to dispute the taking of your home,' Galvin said yesterday. 'We have to move now. This demands urgent action today.'"

"'Maybe the borrower has valid reasons' for failing to pay, said David Volman, an attorney in Shelton, Conn., who represents homeowners facing foreclosure. In Massachusetts, 'there's no judge monitoring' the process. With no oversight, he said, lenders 'are going to do whatever they want.'"

"Volman added that it is unrealistic to expect homeowners who can't afford mortgage payments to hire an attorney to try to stop foreclosure."

"Not all notices filed in Land Court result in foreclosure But in a soft real estate market where home prices are falling, agents said it is impossible for many borrowers in this position to raise enough money to refinance or pay off the outstanding balance of their loans."

"Kevin Cuff, executive director of the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association, said mortgage companies oppose Galvin's proposal, which he said would cause an 'unacceptable delay' for lenders."

"'You're going to have legitimate foreclosure proceedings that are going to get hung up in court, and the lender is going to be out, and the investor' who buys those loans from mortgage writers 'is going to be out,' Cuff said. 'It's going to throw into disarray the entire process.'"