Half Off Dept Charlotte

Foreclosure filings rose in 81 of 100 N.C. counties in the first half of 2008.

So far this year, foreclosure counselor Kerri Roseman has worked with 216 people fighting to save their homes.

Southern Chase was a new kind of subdivision for Beazer, an experiment in selling low-cost homes to low-income families. The strategy was a financial success for Beazer. But the neighborhood fell apart.

The number of foreclosures in Mecklenburg County has spiked since 2003. That's due largely to increasing foreclosures in neighborhoods of new starter homes, shown on the map in red.