The Journal Sentinel reports from Wisconsin. "An ugly surprise reported Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association was that Wisconsin, long known for superior bill-paying performance, had a foreclosure rate worse than the nation's - 1.42% of all loans in the fourth quarter."

"It was all too easy for Jason St. Martin of Franklin to get a $600,000 loan in the summer of 2005. 'I'm a teacher. There's no way that I could have afforded a $600,000 loan for two years,' St. Martin said."

"He used the loan to commission two 'spec homes,' houses that, once built, he intended to sell at a profit. But things went wrong, and he wound up with two half-built houses in a market flooded with inventory - and $535,000 still due."

"His foreclosure process started last week."

"Critics here said that only a sea change in lending practices will stanch the flow of defaulting borrowers."

"'This is the result of aggressive and predatory lending. It happened because lenders lowered their standards and lent money to people who never had the ability to pay it back,' said Todd Esser, a consumer bankruptcy attorney in Milwaukee. Years ago, he said, 'you couldn't imagine a loan being made where the banker didn't actually see the collateral. Now they're throwing money at people - no collateral, no security. You don't even need proof of income.'"

"Subprime lender Jim Howe in Racine, said most defaulting borrowers he sees are people who bought and borrowed beyond their means. 'It's not the lenders. They're just going by their (regulatory) guidelines and doing what they can do,' Howe said. 'Now you've got the people who got the loans not living up to their obligations.'"

The Herald News from Illinois. "Foreclosures and late mortgage payments are hitting high marks in Will County and across the country. In Will County, foreclosures in 2006 reached 3,226, the highest in at least four years and a 30 percent jump from the number of foreclosures in 2005, according to the Recorder of Deeds office."

"Will County had the highest foreclosure rate in the Chicago area for most of 2006 and again in January. The rising foreclosure rates have been fueled by 'subprime' loans that pumped up the real estate market in recent years, making mortgages available to borrowers with high credit risks."

"'A lot of these programs, quite honestly, instead of helping people have really hurt them,' said Tom Mulvey, VP at Dow Mortgage, a Joliet company that does not deal in subprime loans."

"All Chicago-area counties had higher foreclosure rates than the national average, according to RealtyTrac."

The Press & Argus from Michigan. "The home of recently divorced state Rep. Chris Ward is in the process of bank foreclosure. According to a legal notice, Ward and his ex-wife owe $158,292 on their home in Brighton Township. County records put the value of the property at less than $100,000."

"The Wards are not alone in Livingston County. In the first two months of this year, 138 foreclosures have been filed with the Register of Deeds. During the same period in 2006, 72 were filed. And in the same two months in 2005, only 31 were filed."

From Action News 24 in Pennsylvania. "It appears Erie County has an increasingly high rate of home foreclosures and sheriff sales. In 1996, the annual number of foreclosure and sheriff sales went from 113 to 268 in 2000... and then up to 636 in 2006, according to the Erie County Sheriff`s Department."

"'It appears to be the affordability of housing has changed and I`m not so sure its the pricing of the house. I think its the income levels of the individuals and that is a concern.' said John Stolar, Senior VP of National Bank of Pennsylvania."

"The county has processed 376 Sheriff`s sales already this year. This could mean good news for home buyers looking for a bargain, as high foreclosure rates tend to drive down housing prices."

From WCCO 4 in Minnesota. "The number of people who are behind on their mortgage payments is at nearly 5 percent and the number of foreclosures is also at a record high."

"Homeowner Tom McClaughlin is familiar with foreclosures. McClaughlin refinanced his mortgage but with bad credit, his only option was a high interest loan with payments higher than his first mortgage that he couldn't afford. 'Ended up making the worst mistake of my life,' said McClaughlin."

"McClaughlin said it was something he couldn't afford but the broker falsified his income so he'd qualify. 'They did that just so I could get the loan,' he said."

"Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson said falsifying income is a common practice. 'In some cases brokers will make up jobs that people don't have or extra income that they really don't have,' said Swanson."

"She said some brokers don't care if homeowners default since they will sell the mortgage anyway. 'Putting people from product to product, refinancing them in order to make a commission and not really caring about what's in the best interest of the consumer,' said Swanson."

The Star Tribune from Minnesota. "The subprime mortgage crisis, which already has shaved billions of dollars off the value of U.S. stocks, is starting to hit home for some Minnesota workers and borrowers."

"Bloomington-based Residential Capital, one of the country's biggest mortgage lenders, said Tuesday that it lost $651 million in the fourth quarter because of bad subprime loans and that it might need to cut some of its 1,900 jobs in the state."

"Edina-based Maribella Mortgage, which once employed 125 workers, will shut its doors today."

"In the fourth quarter last year, delinquent subprime mortgages in Minnesota jumped to 14.1 percent of the total, from 10.9 percent during the same period of 2005, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association."

"The most obvious effect from the submarining of subprime has been in the stock market, where some subprime lenders have fallen like dominoes, triggering fears of a broader financial crisis."

"Doug Winter, senior VP for Countrywide Home Mortgage in Plymouth, said that it's getting more difficult to find mortgages for people who are good credit risks, but who have complex tax situations or other complicating issues."

"'Those loans have really come under scrutiny, and the availability of these products have pretty much gone away,' Winter said."

"ResCap executives also said the company will stop selling some of the riskiest subprime products, such as loans that require little or no documentation of the borrower's income. It will also reduce its subprime mortgage investments by nearly half, to $28 billion by the end of the year."

"ResCap also left the door open to layoffs. 'We continually monitor our staffing levels in light of our business needs,' it said in a prepared statement."

"While the number of borrowers defaulting on their mortgages is rising, the situation is being exacerbated by Wall Street lenders, who are pulling their backing from subprime lenders, said Amy Crews Cutts, deputy chief economist for Freddie Mac."

"'I've never seen this situation before,' she said. 'There's no way to model it.'"

"Crews Cutts said that, during credit cycles such as the one we're in now, it's not unusual for default rates to be in the 10 to 15 percent range. 'It's a very interesting situation that we're in right now,' she said. 'How bad are subprime delinquencies going to get? It's unknowable at this moment.'"