US foreclosure filings climbed 65% and bank seizures more than doubled in April from a year earlier as mortgage industry efforts to modify loans fell short, reports Bloomberg.

More than 243,300 properties were in some stage of foreclosure, the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of default data, began in January 2005. One in every 519 households received a filing and Nevada, California and Florida had the highest rates. Filings rose 4 percent from March.

The housing crisis continues to drag on and drag down the US economy. This piece from Reuters says it all:

A California man who has defaulted on nine homes and expects banks to foreclose on all of them, forcing him into bankruptcy, says he now considers it “a mistake” to have invested in the real estate market.

Shawn Forgaard, a 37-year-old software company project manager, bought one home for his family to live in and nine more as investments.