Debt-burdened homeowners in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast defaulted on their mortgages last month at more than triple the pace of July 2006.

In Palm Beach County, 1,142 homeowners lost their bid for the American dream - or their investment flip - compared with 370 foreclosures in the same month a year ago, the Palm Beach County clerk's office said Tuesday.

It was worse in St. Lucie County, where a total of 429 homeowners got foreclosure notices last month - nearly five times as many in July of 2006, when 90 were filed, according to the clerk's office.

In Martin County, directly north of Palm Beach County, 75 homeowners faced foreclosure notices last month, according to the county clerk's office. An employee in the clerk's office, who didn't want her name mentioned, hand-counted the foreclosure notices for The Palm Beach Post on Tuesday.

Last July, only 24 foreclosures were in that file.

"Many people can tell you they can't refinance now to avoid foreclosure because their property is worth less than the mortgage - especially those who bought property at the pinnacle of the artificial appreciation in 2005," said real estate analyst Jack McCabe of Deerfield Beach. Indeed, as the mortgage crisis spreads from subprime borrowers to those with good credit - but bad investment decisions - home prices are poised to fall because fewer buyers are qualified for loans with the tightened lending standards,

"There have been more than 100 national lenders that have been forced to close their doors in the past eight months based on the lack of liquidity in the financial markets," said mortgage planner Jim Sahnger of Palm Beach Financial Network in Jupiter.

That means thousands of home buyers ready to sign for $800 million in loans showed up for their closings last week and discovered that their mortgage company had filed for bankruptcy and would not be providing the dotted line. "The credit market is experiencing unprecedented turmoil," mortgage broker Sahnger said. "If you're looking to refinance, there are fewer options available."

Sellers, he added, must look hard at accepting offers or reducing their prices, something most have been unwilling to do. That has resulted in record numbers of homes for sale, putting more pressure on home prices.

The effects of what Sahnger seriously calls a "mortgage crisis" are widening in local housing markets as well as others around the country. Think of the proverbial stone thrown into the pool, with circles widening around it.

In this environment, a record number of homeowners sought financial counseling from a national hotline operated by the nonprofit Homeownership Preservation Foundation, based in Minneapolis.

"Homeowners are entering delinquency at record pace, putting them at serious risk for losing their homes," said Colleen Hernandez, president of the group.

More than 150,000 troubled homeowners facing foreclosure called the hotline in the second quarter of this year, up from 7,000 in the first quarter, Hernandez said. Florida ranked fourth in the nation for the number of calls in the second quarter, Hernandez said. Problems with fixed-rate mortgages were as prevalent as adjustable-rate mortgages, she said. Ohio had the highest number of calls, followed by California and Georgia.

The foreclosure crisis also is being felt in the once-robust Treasure Coast housing markets. In St. Lucie County, the sound of hammers was the constant price of living in this part of paradise during the boom years. Indeed, The New York Times featured the area and its phenomenal growth in a front-page story.

The 429 homeowners in St. Lucie County who slid into foreclosure in July translate to a startling 377 percent increase over last July, when the 90 homeowners faced this fate. Looked at another way, one in 487 households in St. Lucie County was in foreclosure last month.

"We're swamped," said Angela Roselli, who works in the St. Lucie County clerk's office. "I'm surprised there are still any people living in this county."

In Palm Beach County, the increase from 370 mortgage defaults in July 2006 to 1,142 last month amounts to a 209 percent increase, or one in 542 households.

In Martin County the numbers were smaller but the percentage increase still is dramatic. The 75 homeowners who faced foreclosure in July were up from just 24 during the same month in 2006, a 212 percent increase, or one in 973 households.

For more information on Florida foreclosure rates and information, please visit our Florida Foreclosure home page.