One lender attributed the recent rise in listings to the lifting earlier this year of moratoriums intended to give borrowers more time to work out loan modifications.

Facing a foreclosure? Richmond homeowners can meet with certified housing counselors at free foreclosure-prevention clinics Saturday to discuss options for avoiding foreclosure. The city of Richmond and Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia Inc., a housing advocacy group in Richmond, are providing the clinics. “If you are behind on your mortgage, this is a chance to meet with professional certified housing counselors who know what to do,“ said Ellen Robertson, vice president of Richmond City Council. “There are no tricks and no fees.“

In the market for a 120-room hotel? If so, one off Interstate 95 in Petersburg is available—for the right price. The independent hotel at 405 E. Washington St. is in foreclosure and will be auctioned off Wednesday by National Commercial Auctioneers. “It’s basically been mismanaged. Obviously, the property is being foreclosed on, so they’re not paying their bills,“ said Fernando Palacios, regional vice president for Tulsa, Okla.-based National Commercial Auctioneers. “The property is still open and they’re still taking reservations. People are still staying there; it’s not like it is closed down or shut down.“

Act quickly to prevent foreclosure As mortgage delinquencies keep rising, so do cries for help from distressed homeowners. Housing Opportunities Made Equal said it gets an average of 250 new distress calls per month, up from 170 calls a year ago, from consumers trying to prevent a foreclosure. Callers most often ask how they can reduce their mortgage payment to an amount they can afford and how they can take advantage of the federal government’s new Making Home Affordable program, said Mike Burnette, spokesman for the local housing advocacy group.

About 9 percent of Virginia homeowners with a mortgage are either late making their monthly payments or already in foreclosure, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported yesterday. Nationally, 13.16 percent of homeowners were in similar predicaments as of the end of June, the association said. The 8.86 percent delinquency rate for mortgage loans in the U.S. at the end of the second quarter broke a record set in the previous quarter.

Lender BB&T is foreclosing on Hampton Farms, a 38-lot development in western Chesterfield County. Approved by the Chesterfield Board of Supervisors in 2004, the project is on 38 acres on Hull Street Road.

About 55 foreclosed homes, including six in the Richmond area and 14 in the Norfolk area, are set to be auctioned Aug. 1 and 2. Single-family homes, condos and two four-units are available. Tax credits and financing programs may be available. Most houses will be open for inspection July 25 and July 26 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Homes not sold during a pre-auction sales period will be offered at one of the two scheduled auctions.

“You can’t stew in it,“ says one Richmond resident who lost his job at Qimonda in February but is trying to stay positive. An employer says this year is even more frustrating than the last.

Mounting job losses and other economic realities caught up with Americans in June, pushing down a key barometer of consumer sentiment after a streak of gains built on glimmers of hope. Some economists say the reality check offered by yesterday’s report from the New York-based Conference Board may not augur well for spending in the critical months ahead.

The city of Richmond will receive $2 million to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed homes for resale to lower-income families. The funding is part of a $17.5 allocation from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program announced yesterday by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine to address the mortgage-foreclosure problem throughout the state. Kaine allocated $7 million from the fund in April.

Trying to make the best of a bad situation, federal officials might use foreclosed homes as temporary housing for hurricane evacuees in Florida as soon as this summer. The proposal would keep people close to their homes and communities instead of scattering them around the country, which happened when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans nearly four years ago. Thousands never returned.

Claims for its mortgage insurance are climbing, but so, too, are Genworth Financial Inc.‘s efforts to keep people from losing their homes.

The mortgage crisis is spreading and hitting new heights: Borrowers with good credit now make up the largest share of foreclosures as job losses and pay cuts exact their toll. A record 12 percent of homeowners with a mortgage were behind on their payments in the first quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said yesterday. And the trend is predicted to continue until the end of next year, about six months after unemployment is expected to peak.

About 13 foreclosed houses in the Richmond area will be sold at auction next Thursday, beginning at noon, at Holiday Inn Richmond Airport. The houses, which will be sold “as is,“ can be viewed at open houses Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. or by contact listing agents to make appointments. Local houses for auction include a 1,380-square-foot house at 1910 5th Ave. in North Richmond that was previously listed for $40,700 to a 4,238-square-foot home in Chesterfield County that was last listed for $289,900.

About 400 people turned out for yesterday’s auction, conducted by Irvine, Calif.-based Real Estate Disposition Corp.