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Foreclosures in Yamhill County more than doubled in 2008, records show, and the upward trend appears to be continuing so far in 2009.

During the first four months of this year, the county recorded 70 transfers of trustees deeds, indicating that the properties had been sold at auction in a foreclosure proceeding. During the same period in 2008, it recorded 24 such transfers.

Many of those foreclosures would most likely have been started the previous year, as the process is a lengthy one.

During the first four months of 2009, lenders sent out 220 notices of default to begin the foreclosure process, compared to 119 in the first four months of 2008. Some of those are likely to be resolved short of foreclosure, however.

Megan Ramos, home ownership program specialist with the Housing Authority of Yamhill County, said she's well aware of the problem.

"It definitely doesn't surprise me," she said. "We've seen, I think, about a 100 percent increase in the number of people we're seeing through here getting help. So that number sounds fairly accurate."

Until recently, Ramos noted, Oregon has appeared relatively stable in comparison to growth boom states like Florida, Arizona, California and Nevada. That, however, may be changing.

At a state-organized conference on the foreclosure issue, held May 2, she learned Oregon's foreclosure rate now ranks 10th in the nation.

"A lot of the trends they were seeing before in Arizona and California, we're starting to see those trends here," Ramos said. "So we were just a little bit behind the times, but not necessarily safe."

Though the trends have been widely reported at the state and national levels, locally, no one tracks precisely how many homes wind up in foreclosure. Indeed, it's nearly impossible to track local foreclosures with total accuracy.

Trends, however, do show up clearly. And the trend in this instance is unmistakable.

In 2007, the county recorded 53 trustee's deed transfers. In 2008, it recorded 125.

Typically, those refer to properties that were sold at auction as part of the foreclosure process, providing a starting point for analysis.

But some caveats are in order.

First, some other types of property transfers may end up being recorded as trustee's deed transfers. That can happen, for example, with deeds held in trust.

Clayton Carter of First American Title identified one of the 53 from 2007 as such as a mis-recorded filing in a random check. Without examining the records for each individual transfer, it's impossible to know how many others were also recorded incorrectly, he said, though it was probably a relatively small number both years and thus shouldn't affect the ratio much.

Second, not all foreclosed properties wind up being sold at auction.

A few go through the judicial process, and those aren't tracked at all. Carter said that occurs with a relatively small number, however, "because of the expenses involved in litigation."

Others are subject to so-called "short sales" mid-way through the process, allowing the owners an out.

Third, there are different ways to count the number of properties involved in such actions.

For example, one of last year's 125 foreclosures covered 17 separate lots in an Amity subdivision, after the developer defaulted on his financing, and others also covered multiple properties. Presenting them as single actions may significantly understate the dimensions of the problem.

The best it's possible to say, according to Carter, is that the rate of completed foreclosure actions more than doubled in 2008, and has doubled again during the first four months of 2009.

Anecdotally, Carter thinks we might finally be turning a corner, though.

"We've seen a pretty steady rate of foreclosures, but it has dropped in the last month or two, compared to the end of 2008," he said. "That's my personal sense."

Naida Paris, senior loan officer at Valley Mortgage, said, "I've been in lending for 19 years, and I think that this one is the worst."

However, she said, "I think this is bad (but) I don't think Oregon is getting hit like California, Florida or Detroit, Michigan. ... It could be that we're getting a delayed reaction."

Paris said it's surprising to her that banks haven't been more aggressive in trying to stave off more foreclosures with short sales, in which homes are sold quickly, often at a loss, simply to avoid default.

Early in her career, she said, she worked in escrow. She said major lenders had special departments set up for the purpose of "getting these properties off the books as soon as possible."

That being the case, she said, "It's hard for me to understand why they're not negotiating now and doing that. My feeling is that every department of the bank is overwhelmed.

"These bankers, a lot of them were in grammar school the last time things were this bad. They have no concept of having an REO department and getting things shoved through. The Realtors are making offers, and they're getting no response for four months."

Paris also cited another problem.

As more and more homeowners face the threat of foreclosure, scam artists have sensed an opportunity and moved in, she said. Some have been offering "deals" to help homeowners straighten out mortgage loans in default - for fees in the $2,500 range.

The Housing Authority, Paris noted, offers counseling free of charge. "Frankly," she said, "if you have $2,500, you should be making your house payments."

Ramos said the Housing Authority not only offers one-on-one counseling, but also assistance with contacting service providers and filling out forms.

"We can work with the bank up until the date (the house) is supposed to go up for sale," she said. "And the bank can change the sale date, so that date is still is not set in stone."

It is important, she said, for homeowners to take action as soon as they realize they are either in default or facing the imminent prospect.

"At this point, I think that consumers need to be willing to work with the banks to come up with solutions," Ramos said. "Putting your head in the sand is not going to help you.

"From what I've seen, banks are completely overwhelmed right now. It's very important that you advocate for yourself - be calling on things and checking on things, making sure you don't get lost in the shuffle."

As homeowners struggle to stay in their houses, they are facing some hard choices.

Tricia Harrop, manager of the YCAP regional food bank, which distributes food to emergency food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the county, said that the number of hungry residents continues to rise. In many cases, it's a choice of food or shelter for families that can't afford both.

"I can tell you that in the last quarter, January 1 through March 31, our emergency food pantries filled 6,110 emergency food boxes," Harrop said. "That's an increase of 6 percent over the previous quarter, and it represents an increase of 15 percent over the same period last year. And that represents 18,176 people in those families."

The soup kitchens have seen an even more dramatic jump, Harrop said.

"St. Barnabas Soup Kitchen and the Newberg Soup Kitchen served 7,562 meals during that same period, an increase of 6 percent from the previous quarter, and - are you ready for this? - an increase of 50 percent over that same time period in 2008. So the answer is, 'Yes, we're definitely seeing it on our end.'"

Harrop said she recently got a call from a construction worker who hadn't been able to find work in months - so many months his unemployment benefits had run out.

His wife's $11-an-hour salary wasn't high enough to keep the family going. But it was high enough to disqualify them for food stamps.

"He said, 'You don't understand. I just sent my two children to school, and I didn't have anything to give them for lunch,'" Harrop recalled.

When she suggested that he talk to the school about signing the children up for free or reduced-price lunches, however, the man was appalled.

"He said, 'No, no. I can't do that. I volunteer at the school.'"

Harrop said, "This is typical. People have to change their whole frame of reference. They've never thought like this before.

"These are people who have always participated, they've always given back. They're the people we go to church with, the people we go to school with. They're our neighbors. We have no idea what our neighbors are going through.

"I probably get eight to 12 calls a day. People are totally mystified. They think they just need to get a sandwich for their kids or something. They need their whole lives supported at this point."