[Dion]

The most prominent foreclosure law firm in Calgary said business roughly doubled from 2007 to 2008, and that growth hasn't shown signs of relenting.

"Foreclosure rates are rising at a disturbing rate," said Harold Vickers of Vickers and Associates.

"We've been a firm that has been doing foreclosures for 25 years, and we have never seen this many foreclosures."

It used to be that courts, banks and mortgage lenders only had to close in on a handful of disaster cases: bad divorces, addicts, marijuana grow operations and people who otherwise fell apart. In good times, many could get emergency financing by borrowing against the steadily increasing value in their homes.

But now values are eroding.Foreclosures are claiming Calgarians who've invested in multiple homes or only had one, with good credit and with bad, Vickers said.

n a growing number of cases, Vickers finds borrowers who owe more than their home is worth.

And here's a recession-time twist: at a time when layoffs stalk offices throughout Calgary, his company has had to boost staff by more than 30 per cent to handle the bigger workload.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/opinion...897/story.html