Today, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, released a statement on and a state by state breakdown of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) report showing a record number of foreclosures occurred in the first quarter of 2008:

"In just over a year, rising home foreclosures have moved from what we were told would be a sad story confined to a few neighborhoods to what is clearly the most pressing economic crisis in a generation.  Today's record foreclosure rates announced by the mortgage industry show what many of us have been warning of for some time -- the U.S. housing market and our economy is in big trouble and the White House has not done nearly enough to address this serious crisis.  This should be another wake up call for an administration woefully out of touch with the declining economic fortunes of millions of Americans."

A few key findings within the MBA report:

• The number of Americans in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure rose to the highest since 1979.
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• The total inventory of homes in foreclosure increased to 2.47 percent, the highest since 1979.
• The delinquency rate, loans with one or more payments overdue, grew to 6.35 percent, the highest since 1979.
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• California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona accounted for 89 percent of the gain in new foreclosures.