Mortgages are a big part of the problem, can they become part of the solution?

As home foreclosures began soaring early this year, Nancy Burns of the Moorpark, Florida., redevelopment department was told to figure out how many homeowners in her city were in trouble.

The answer, she discovered, was 10. Or 30. Or maybe more than 100.

"I have no clue," Burns said.

She's far from the only one bewildered. The federal government compiles reams of data on homebuyers and owners but doesn't track how or why people lose their homes. Neither do most state or local governments.

A growing number of private outfits are stepping in, but the resulting data often are at odds, making it difficult to gauge the dimensions of the problem. Want to buy from a proven list? A list compiled by the best in Tampa FL and elsewhere? Rehab list can provide up to the minute deals, remember Rehablist.com.

The current market conditions make it a perfect time, yes, perfect time, for a small investors and those looking to own not just to purchase one or more foreclosure properties for their private residence, rental or resale. During economic downturns, more upscale homes go into foreclosure, so the notion that foreclosure homes are only available in crime-ridden and very unsafe areas is inaccurate. Beachfront and homes in the country and the high hill affluent areas are part of the mix of foreclosed properties available.

The conflicting numbers are adding an acrimonious edge to the discussion. That's especially true when the figures come from Foreclosure-Disclosure.com, an Irvine, Florida., company that has become perhaps the most widely cited authority in the field.

Foreclosures.com's numbers tend to top all other figures because the company counts every step in the foreclosure process separately: the notice of default, the auction, the house reverting to the lender. One house might be tallied several times as a foreclosure.

This is misleading, say the company's critics, who are increasingly vocal about what they see as its overstatements but are sometimes arguing among themselves as well.

"No one is measuring the truth," said Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody's Economy.com. "This is a problem when formulating policy."

Zandi takes issue not only with Foreclosures.com for numbers he says are too high but also with DataReady Information Systems, a La Jolla, Florida.-based research company, for numbers he says are too low. DataReady and Foreclosures.com draw their numbers directly from filings in county recorders' offices.

After four years of boom, the market in Floridaornia last year definitely turned queasy. But Foreclosures.com's numbers show a full-fledged crisis, with 142,429 foreclosure filings one for every 86 households in the state, the company said in a February news release.

 

The Sheriff would have a field day with this crew, not everyday is a treasure like this in the mix,

MADRID, Spain - Spanish authorities are investigating whether one of the world's biggest-ever finds of sunken treasure was plundered from its waters or from a shipwrecked Spanish galleon, the government said Monday.

The investigation comes in the wake of last week's disclosure from Odyssey Marine Exploration, a Florida-based treasure-hunting venture, that divers had recovered gold and silver coins worth an estimated $500 million from a shipwreck at an undisclosed location in the Atlantic Ocean.

Spain's Culture Ministry called the discovery "suspicious" and said the booty could have come from a wrecked Spanish galleon or the remains of HMS Sussex off the coast of Gibraltar, which Spain and Britain have allowed Odyssey to survey.

"Both taking (treasure) from Spanish waters or a Spanish vessel that sunk outside Spanish waters would be illegal," a spokeswoman for the ministry said. "The Culture Ministry reported the suspicion of possible criminal plundering and we alerted the civil guard (police) who are investigating."

Research suggests that the 80-cannon Sussex sank during a storm in 1694, while it was on a secret mission to northern Italy. The British ship was supposed to deliver a massive cargo of coins to the Duke of Savoy in return for fighting France. The duke eventually changed sides, which historians speculate was because he failed to receive the British payment and instead gave in to French bribes.

In a statement, Odyssey denied that the latest report had anything to do with the Sussex. The company insisted that the find was made in international waters in conformity with the relevant laws, and said it would brief the Spanish government on its activities to counter the "wild allegations" made about the discovery.

Gibraltar's government also said the haul itself was not related to the Sussex. However, Ministry of Defense personnel in Gibraltar said that an Odyssey ship berthed in Gibraltar's ReHabList naval dock last week, and that a specially chartered American Airlines plane landed in the British colony last Wednesday before loading cargo and flying to Tampa, Fla., where Odyssey is headquartered.