Twenty years ago, the Anderson County Master in Equity’s Office handled as few as eight foreclosure cases a month.

Today it’s not unusual to have 80 to 100 foreclosure sales in a month.

RealtyTrac, a national real estate Web site, reported the number of foreclosures nationwide increased 121 percent from the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of this year.

And, second quarter data shows the problem is hitting Upstate residents close to home.

South Carolina ranked 35th in the nation for foreclosure increases. The Greenville metropolitan statistical area was No. 88 in Realty Trac’s top 100 MSAs for foreclosure increases. Columbia and Charleston ranked 77 and 93, respectively.

“I think the situation is really critical,” said Carolyn Lecque of the South Carolina Foreclosure Task Force.

She estimates that in addition to the reported foreclosures, there are hundreds more in the pipeline and hundreds more that have been delayed.

Looking back, real estate experts say the rise in foreclosures is the result of “creative financing” and a slowing economy.

Elaine Worzala, director of Clemson University’s Center for Real Estate Development, was interviewed by National Public Radio at the height of lenders’ aggressiveness. She remembers advising people to rent, but says her efforts couldn’t overcome the hype about the need to own and how you can’t lose in real estate.

“What’s sad is that people were trying to tell the financial community and were trying to tell borrowers, but it was like a feeding frenzy, and they didn’t want to hear it,” Worzala said.

In addition to lax lending practices, experts say the higher price of fuel and food is making it easier for one major life change, such a job loss or death, to put homeowners behind on their payments.

Housekeeper Joyce Lusk found herself unemployed after business slowed at Oconee Memorial Hospital. A series of migraines kept the 59-year-old from working, and soon she was five months behind on her mortgage.

Lusk said she asked her lender to move payments to the end of her mortgage or drop her monthly bill to $600 until she was earning a steady income. The lender was unwilling to do either, and now she’s facing foreclosure.

“I don’t understand why they don’t want to work with me,” Lusk said. “Why do they want to take the house when the house is going to sit there for God knows how long?”

Housing sales in Anderson County were off 28.5 percent from April 2007 to April 2008, with the average house staying on the market 131 days. With more houses than buyers, there’s more competition to sell. Debbie Dorn, a Coldwell Banker Caine real estate agent, said even banks are taking extra steps to sell foreclosed homes faster, such as painting or cleaning.

Dorn said Anderson County is a buyer’s market, but not a foreclosure-driven market.

In the hardest-hit parts of the country, such as Michigan, California and Nevada, house sales and values are dropping. Despite an increased inventory, homes in Anderson County are maintaining their value.

“We’re fortunate we’re in an area where the cost of living is less than other areas,” she said. “We still have people moving here.”

Dorn said she expects the local housing market to correct itself after November’s general election.

Almost every neighborhood has been affected by the rise in foreclosures and drop in sales. The Master in Equity’s Aug. 5 sale had 98 properties, including houses in upscale subdivisions such as Rivendell.The Community Housing Resource Board of Anderson is conducting free foreclosure and default clinics every two weeks at the Anderson County Library.

The Community Housing Resource Board counsels homeowners and works with their lenders. Fair Housing Coordinator Marlane Fletcher said the board was been able to save five houses last month.

But not everyone has been so lucky, and the experience lenders are facing now could make it more difficult to get a loan in the future, Lecque said.

C. Allan Ducker III, chief executive officer of CommunitySouth Bank, said lenders are re-evaluating existing loans to make sure the collateral and ability to pay still are there.

“Almost every lender has tightened up their underwriting standards,” Ducker said. “To get a loan today is much more difficult than it was 12, 24 or 36 months ago.”

Having good credit, equity and documented ability to repay the loan is going to be critical going forward, Ducker said.

And if you are facing foreclosure, he and others say the best thing to do is talk to your lender.

National lenders, like Lusk’s, might have less flexibility, but local banks should be able to help you work it out, Ducker said.