In April, U.S. foreclosure filings climbed 65 percent and bank seizures more than doubled from a year earlier as the mortgage industry is reeling from loans that are falling short.

Bloomberg, a news wire service, reports that, “more than 243,000 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 worst housing slump since the Great Depression may plunge the U.S. economy into a recession. Falling home prices have dropped the most in 29 years in the first quarter, which are making it tougher for homeowners to refinance while voluntary programs to change loan terms for at-risk borrowers haven’t helped enough people.

Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates in Washington, is quoted by Bloomberg as saying, “loan modification isn’t working. It’s extremely difficult for a homeowner to talk to a servicer and even if they do, it’s hard to get the servicer to change the terms. You get voice-mail hell, they don’t return calls, and you can’t get a live person on the phone.”

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