Faces of foreclosure

L Like a growing number of Utahns these days, she is struggling to keep her house. She is also among the many who feel a sense of shame to find themselves in such a perilous position, so much so that she asked that her identity not be revealed.

A Salt Lake resident, she paid her bills and worked hard, spending 14 years in the retail business so that she could buy a home. But her fortunes changed due to some serious health problems, and she was swept into a scam. She fell behind on her mortgage payments and soon was at risk of losing her home to foreclosure.

"I got so far behind on my house because I couldn't afford it," she said. "It got so bad that I was getting phone calls from creditors, so I went and filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy."

As the nation copes with the worst housing market in recent memory, thousands of people in Utah and nationwide are trying to avoid losing their homes. The foreclosure rise has struck people from across the social strata, including famed pitchman and television host Ed McMahon, who recently disclosed that his multimillion-

dollar mansion is in foreclosure. They include people who are at risk of losing their primary residence, as well as builders and others who sought to profit from the housing boom and are having difficulty selling those homes now.

"We have a lot of middle and upper class that just bought way more house than they could really afford, or they got into a bad loan or they had credit issues, as well," said Stephanie Hanson, a housing counselor and education coordinator with Community Development Corporation of Utah, a nonprofit housing-counseling agency that provides help to people facing foreclosure.

"We've also had a lot of clients who really shouldn't have gotten the mortgage in the first place," she added. "They weren't credit worthy, and so they got into an adjustable rate, and they were delinquent before their rate ever adjusts due to their poor money management or an unforeseen job loss, illness or increased expenses."

A recent report from RealtyTrac, based in Irvine, Calif., showed Utah ranked ninth in the nation in the rate of foreclosure filings last month.

The four Utah metro areas in July all ranked among the nation's top 100 for the highest number of foreclosure filings. St. George ranked 17th in the report, the Provo/Orem area ranked 39th, Salt Lake City ranked 70th nationally and Ogden/Clearfield was 100th.

Jim Wood, director of the University of Utah's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, said Utah could be in for a state record for foreclosures next year.