August 29th, 2007 12:57 AM

Congress seeks to halt rising foreclosures, from MSNBC.com, reports that with fresh data showing home foreclosures on the rise, lawmakers on Capital Hill are considering various measures to restore a mortgage market now in disarray before the current mortgage market threatens the wider economy. U.S. foreclosures continued to rise in July, up 9 percent from June and up 93 percent from a year ago, according to RealtyTrac. Nearly 180,000 filings were reported during the month, equaling one in every 693 U.S. households. Though 43 states have seen higher year-over-year foreclosure rates, more than half of the total foreclosures have been concentrated in just five states-- California, Florida, Michigan, Ohio and Georgia. Arizona was one of the top ten states for foreclosures, along with Colorado, Massachusetts and Indiana. "I do smell a federal bailout," said Michael Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners. "We have a Democratically controlled Congress and a Republican president with a disastrous international situation and a plummeting approval rating. So this could be irresistible," he added.

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