Jane and Tim Skoog interviewing Real Estate Broker Rudy Crichlow in Mattapan

Economist Mark Zandi of Moody’s Economy.com says it bluntly – foreclosures are the single biggest threat to our economy.

According to the Warren Group, a Boston real estate firm that keeps track of these things in Massachusetts, last month people were falling behind on their mortgage payments at an alarming rate.

I’m not an economist or a mortgage banker, but I try to keep track of this metric. You don’t need a PhD in economics to anticipate that a lot of the foreclosures are connected to the now infamous subprime mortgages.

This week Radio Boston’s David Boeri interviewed homeowners whose adjustable rate mortgages have climbed while the value of their homes have tanked and they are between the worst rock and hard place.

On the not too distant horizon, experts tell us the next wave of foreclosures will hit people who had good credit, bought their homes with 20% down and a boring, standard 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

And, yesterday Congressman Barney Frank warned lenders (again) that if they don’t increase the number of loan modifications, Congress will revive legislation to empower bankruptcy judges to write down home loans.

Many Americans, even the most powerful and influential, are having housing troubles. Last month, the AP ran a story that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner finally pulled his suburban New York home off the market and rented it because its value had dropped below what he paid for it.

What is your rock and hard place story — and what are you doing about it?
We’d like to hear from you.

Thanks for listening, Jane.