clipped from www.dispatch.com

New evidence suggests that the foreclosure crisis is likely to get worse before it gets better.

A report, issued yesterday by the Mortgage Bankers Association, found that loan delinquencies rose to record levels in the third quarter of this year. At the end of the quarter, 14.4 percent of loans were delinquent or in foreclosure, the highest rate the association has seen since it began its surveys in 1972.

In Ohio, 15.3 percent of loans were past due or in foreclosure -- 226,000 of the state's 1.48 million residential mortgages.

While the number of loans in foreclosure increased only slightly in Ohio from the previous quarter, those at least 90 days' delinquent rose sharply, from 3.75 percent to 4.44 percent. That suggests foreclosures will rise next year as banks move to repossess those properties.

The number of seriously delinquent or foreclosed loans in Ohio has risen about 1 percent each of the past three quarters.