More Stories Related To Foreclosure & The Tightening Economy

More stories related to foreclosure and the tightening economy from around the country:

• Debt collector drowns Lucas County court with tax-lien foreclosures: Plymouth Park Tax Services LLC, doing business as Xspand, has flooded the Lucas County, Ohio courts with tax lien foreclosures, filing more than 100 in two days - threatening residents during the Christmas season with the possible loss of their homes.

• Foreclosures Don’t Spare the House of God: The era of easy credit has begun taking its toll on even the most sacred of borrowers, religious institutions. Hundreds of churches across the country have received foreclosure notices in recent months, and even more are behind on mortgage payments. Historically, churches were wary of debt, and many old-line congregations have owned their buildings free and clear for decades. But borrowing by churches became more common in the 1990s.

• Kansas Shelters See Surge in Abandoned Horses: Dogs and cats aren't the only animals suffering as the economy takes a toll on pet owners. Rescue groups in Kansas say they're seeing a surge in the number of horses being abandoned, especially older horses. Ande Miller, president and founder of the Hope in the Valley Equine Rescue and Sanctuary near Valley Center, Kansas said the 3-year-old shelter normally cares for 10 to 15 abandoned horses at any given time. But in recent months that number has jumped to between 25 and 30 animals.

• Animal rescue site opens kids eyes: Former major league baseball player Shea Hillenbrand, and his wife Jessica Hillenbrand own and operate Marley Farms, a Gilbert, Arizona animal rescue and petting zoo. The family bought the 25-acre farm last year, and established their nonprofit organization, Against All Odds, with two missions in mind - rescue animals and help disadvantaged children or kids in crisis, Hillenbrand said.

• New Law Means Realtors Responsible For Pets Left At Foreclosed Homes: In Contra Costa County, California, thousands of people have lost their homes to foreclosure, and some of them leave behind the family pet. In response to this continuing trend, state Assemblyman Mark Desaulnier, D-Concord, introduced Assembly Bill 2949 this year calling for real estate agents, landlords and property managers to take responsibility for those abandoned pets.

• Skaters Jump In as Foreclosures Drain the Pool: Pools in abandoned foreclosed homes are being converted into skateboard parks. Skaters are coming to places like Fresno from as far as Germany and Australia. Reportedly, older, kidney-shaped pools are preferred. One skateboarder said his floor and couch were covered by sleeping bags of visiting skateboarders each weekend. Some skateboarders use realty tracking sites like realquest.com and realtor.com to find foreclosed houses with pools, while others trawl through satellite images from Google Earth. On the Web site skateandannoy.com, where skaters trade tips about how to find and drain abandoned pools, one poster wrote about the current economic malaise. “God bless Greenspan,” the post read, “patron saint of pool skatin’.”

• St. Paul looks for squatters in foreclosed homes: One night a week, crews from St. Paul, Minnesota's city inspector's office make surprise visits to foreclosed buildings with a mission: to look for people who might be living there illegally. Inspectors try to avoid evicting people on the spot unless they are chronic offenders. In cases that involve repeat squatters, inspectors may issue a criminal citation, kick out the residents and board up the building.

• Contractors Discover Marijuana Grow House: Lake Mary, Florida police want to find the people who abandoned a suspected drug house. They found pot plants and growing equipment inside a home but no people. Police were led to the house by contractors who were there to do some work. When they went inside, they found bags of pot and growing equipment. Neighbors told Eyewitness News the house was in foreclosure and the last tenants moved out a year ago.