According to a recent report by real estate data firm ATTOM, 1 in 4,000 homes were filed for foreclosure in May. Foreclosure filings jumped 7 percent from April and 14 percent year-over-year.

This could lead to uncomfortable comparisons to the Great Recession, especially since home prices have been falling as buyers have been exiting the housing market. However, many of these applications are the result of a federal moratorium on foreclosures during the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions of Americans were out of work.

While the federal moratorium ends in 2021, many states have extended it. Now, homeowners who have been delinquent on their mortgages for the past several years are receiving foreclosure notices.

Nationwide, nearly 35,200 properties are threatened with foreclosure. ATTOM studied data from more than 3,000 counties, representing more than 99 percent of the nation's population, to reach its conclusion. Foreclosure filings include default lis pendens (pending lawsuits), auctions, trustee sales and notices of foreclosure sales. Bank-owned properties were included.

"A lot of people just can't afford the homes they're in," says Paul Urich, a bankruptcy attorney who handles foreclosures in Orlando, Fla." Everything has gotten so expensive that many people are stuck with variable-rate mortgages, so their payments keep going up. Then we have the problem of homeowner's insurance, and whenever we have a storm, [the insurance companies] either cancel or raise prices."

Adjustable (variable) rate mortgages can lead to much higher monthly payments if mortgage rates rise. According to Freddie Mac, mortgage rates have more than doubled in the past two years, from below 3 percent two years ago to nearly 7 percent now on 30-year fixed-rate loans.

"Creditors are overcoming COVID, and they're not going to let up any more," said Urich.

Where are the highest foreclosure rates?

Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey have some of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. In Illinois, one in every 2,144 homes receives a foreclosure filing. Florida and Ohio rounded out the top five states.

Florida homeowners are most likely to lose their homes. Lakeland had the most foreclosure notices of any city with at least 200,000 residents. In Lakeland, between Orlando and Tampa, one in every 1,361 homes received a foreclosure filing.

Other cities at risk of losing their homes include Elkhart, Indiana; Cleveland; Palm Bay, Florida; and Ocala, Florida.

More than 4,000 properties were completed in foreclosure in May. This is a 38 percent increase over April and a 41 percent increase over the same month last year.

In addition, lenders began foreclosure proceedings on nearly 23,250 homes in May. This is a 5 percent increase over the previous year.

"Most homeowners are doing well," said Urich. He has seen some homeowners who stopped making mortgage payments during the moratorium now being asked to make a large lump sum payment, which they are struggling or unable to do.

"The ones I'm seeing [in foreclosure] are so far behind that their mortgages are such a large part of their budgets," he added.