The Republican reports from Massachusetts. "Indicators of delinquent mortgage payments that could lead to foreclosure rose dramatically in Massachusetts in February, according to a report issued yesterday. The first step taken by a lender against a delinquent borrower, petitions to foreclose filed in state Land Court, rose 92.1 percent to 2,242 across the state compared to the number of petitions filed in February last year, according to The Warren Group."

"Advertisements for foreclosure auctions, the last step before a property is actually sold at auction, rose an alarming 199 percent to 1,005 statewide compared to the year before, according to the report."

"Terence Egan, editor at The Warren Group, said the 'trend is accelerating.' Month-over-month comparisons throughout 2006 and into 2007 have shown steady increases, he said. 'It's likely to get worse before it gets better,' he said."

"Petitions to foreclose in Hampshire County rose 177.8 percent, from 9 to 25; in Franklin County, petitions were up 122.2 percent, from 9 to 20; and in Hampden County, petitions were up 101 percent, from 99 to 199."

"Egan said 'what's really interesting' is that foreclosure petitions in the Pioneer Valley are tracking the increases across the state, but the increase in auction announcements is 'dramatically lower' than the rest of the state. That may be because housing prices are lower in Western Massachusetts and did not spike as high as eastern Massachusetts housing prices during the boom years."

"Also, he said, homeowners may find it easier to sell their homes than eastern Massachusetts homeowners, who have watched housing values slide. 'There's not a lot of wiggle room when you owe more on your home than you can sell it for,' Egan said."

From News Center 5. "NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that the numbers mean that in just about any neighborhood in any Massachusetts town, homeowners could be on the brink of losing their most important financial investment. Mortgage broker Don Larsen had to break the bad news to his client on Wednesday. New Century Mortgage, a wholesale lender, did not have the cash for a promised $417,000 loan."

"'They've always said everything was fine. Keep sending loans in, everything will fund. Unfortunately, this one didn't fund, and it makes me look bad and makes my borrower unhappy,' Larsen said."

"Foreclosure loomed for Barbara Gosselin and her husband recently. A risky zero percent down payment loan helped them become first time buyers of a property in New Hampshire. But tight finances got tighter when her husband had unexpected business problems."

"'The stress has been unbelievable. I've had days where I've cried. At work I've cried trying to do my job and just worrying about the stress of losing the home,' Gosselin said."

From CNN Money. "Jemima and Ricardo Sanon saw the possibility of trouble before they ever signed their mortgage documents in 2004. The Sanons had diligently saved $5,000 in preparation to buy their first home, but the sum was just enough to cover the closing costs. So to finance the $290,000 purchase price of a Waltham, Mass home, they took one loan for $232,000 and also a piggyback loan for $58,000, both from New Century Financial, a subprime lender."

"'I worried about how we would make payments when they increased,' said Jemima. 'The mortgage broker [at New Century] told us we could refinance.'"

"Fast forward a couple of years, and the Sanons, like so many other subprime borrowers today, are struggling to keep their heads above water. As the housing market boomed, refinancing or selling your home was a simple solution for borrowers who had trouble making the mortgage payment. Now that the housing market has stalled, subprime borrowers are stuck with loans they really couldn't afford in the first place."

"Defaults and foreclosures are rising, and the industry is roiling as lenders face the consequences after years of handing out money irresponsibly. Says Bruce Marks, CEO of a non-profit that is trying to help the Sanons and other subprime borrowers refinance into sensible mortgages: 'Lenders knew these loans were structured to fail.'"

"For the Sanons, the initial monthly payment on the larger loan was some $1,300. Two years later, that payment jumped to over $1,800. As a result of the sticker shock, the couple fell behind on their credit cards and student loans."

"In November, Jemima had to leave her job for several months because of a difficult pregnancy, which put them even further behind on the bills. She recently returned to work. But not in time to stay current with the mortgage; in February, the Sanons paid late. Now the March payments are due, and the latest adjustment has pushed the sum on the larger loan to over $2,000."

"After the first adjustment, Ricardo called Litton Loan Servicing (the company currently servicing the mortgage) to try to work something out. 'They threatened us,' he says. 'They said, 'If you don't make your payment, we'll foreclose.'"

"Ricardo's working with Marks' organization to try to get into a loan that makes sense. In the meantime, he has been logging seven days a week at the drug store where he is employed as an assistant manager to keep up with the house payment. With their newly blemished credit record, the couple hasn't yet been able to refinance out."

"'We want to keep our house,' says Jemima. 'But we can't do it with the mortgage we have right now.'"

From AFP Press in New York. "In the heady days of the US real estate boom, it seemed like a safe bet to use her house as collateral for a loan. Today, Sharon Edwardsen risks losing her Staten Island, New York home, trapped by spiraling payments."

"Edwardsen was tempted to take out a special high-risk loan targeted at people with low credit ratings. Today her monthly repayments have soared to 2,800 dollars, yet she only takes home 1,600 dollars."

"'I'm panicking every day. I'm not sleeping because I'm worrying. This house has been in my family forever and I don't want to lose it. But I can't make the payments they are asking me for,' she told AFP."

"During the boom years, when the repayments got too high, home owners could even refinance their loans borrowing against the increased value of their house. That's exactly what Edwardsen did, remortgaging her home three times between 2002 and 2006."

"Each time she got into difficulties, her mortgage broker would offer a new deal. From an original loan of 103,000 dollars, she now owes the credit company some 285,000 dollars even though her monthly income has remained the same."

"'They took advantage of the fact that I was so desperate that I needed it. I told her (the broker) I had trouble with it. So she said in three months 'we're going to do this again. We're going refinance you again and the money you take out, you going to use it for your mortgage payments,' Edwardsen said."

The Star Ledger from New Jersey. "A property appraisal Michael Meehan conducted in Chester Township more than two years ago noted improvements such as a new kitchen, two new bathrooms, new plumbing and 17 new exterior windows."

"NJ Affordable Homes then used that appraisal to help one of its investors obtain a $375,000 mortgage. But there were at least two problems with Meehan's work, federal prosecutors said: He never went to Chester to visit the property, and the land was vacant."

"Meehan pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud yesterday during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares in federal court in Newark. 'He's not a bad guy,' defense attorney Thomas Harley said. 'He just got caught up in something common sense tells you you shouldn't get caught up in.'"

"His contact at the company gave Meehan sales contracts with prices far exceeding properties' values and Meehan appraised the homes to generally match that price, according to charging documents. The unnamed employee also provided Meehan with a list of improvements purportedly made to the property."

"'It became easier to just do what they wanted to do,' said Harey, who noted Meehan appraised about 100 properties."

From New Jersey. "Call it Retail 101: Low prices attract shoppers. Increasingly, real estate agents are coaching home sellers to list their homes at an asking price that clearly undercuts the competition. Agents have taken to calling it 'drama pricing.' Others, the 'eBay effect.' Either way, the logic is simple: In a housing market with a glut of properties for sale, an unusually low price is a surefire way to make your home stand out and attract more prospective buyers."

"One homeowner who recently adopted this strategy said her real estate agent referred to it as 'the bungee jump.'"

"'You go down and then you get sprung back up,' said the seller, who did not want to be identified because the deal has yet to be completed. 'You would rather have that effect than overpricing your home and getting no bids at all.'"

"Realtors said many sellers are reluctant to take 'the bungee jump' for fear the offers will come in lower, not higher, than the asking price. Still, with the housing market slack, more and more sellers are willing to give it a try, Realtors say, particularly those with homes priced between $500,000 and $1.5 million."

"'When buyers see good value, they will come and they will buy with a sense of urgency,' said Cara Moxley, a Realtor in Summit. 'Ultimately those underpriced homes bring more, even beyond most sellers' expectations.'"

"'I take pains to help clients understand that the rationale behind a lower list price is to maintain a position of negotiating strength as a seller,' (realtor) Howard Bunn said. 'A low price pits the buyers against one another. They must compete or lose the house. A higher list price pits the potential buyer against the seller and the seller is then playing defense, negotiating with a buyer who knows he's operating alone and not concerned with the actions of excited other buyers.'"

"Still, Bunn said he always cautions sellers never to list their home at a price they would be sorry to sell at. As with any real estate deal, a seller is under no obligation to accept an offer. But once the asking price has been set, there's no going back: It won't help sell a house to later raise the asking price."

"'That kind of pricing is the devil's workshop and will lead at best to a severe loss of credibility,' he said."

"There's also some risk for a buyer in this situation, Realtors say. Make sure you're not the winner who ends up feeling like a loser in the morning because you overpaid for a property, said Lorrie Cohen, a broker in West Orange."

"'People always want what they can't have, and they get caught up in the frenzy of this bidding war and they get the house, but the next day they wake up and they say, 'What did I do?' Cohen said."