Mortgage defaults

Ya think?

"The number of mortgages in default or foreclosure leaped 18.6% in October since September, a possible sign that rising interest rates are turning some heavy homeowner debts into unbearable ones."

...

"'Given all those little hits that the average household budget took in a fairly short period of time, it's not surprising that we'd see an up-kick,' said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing. Those hits include soaring fuel prices, a surge in mortgage interest rates, the start of stricter bankruptcy laws on Oct. 1 and a recent increase in credit card costs, Sharga said."