Foreclosure is a losing proposition all the way around.

Families lose homes and injure their ability to borrow money for years to come, if not decades.

Lenders incur legal fees, real estate fees and property management fees as they wait for sales that will only partially recoup their original investments.

Property values drop further in neighborhoods where foreclosures occur. Vacant homes attract vandals and squatters.

Ultimately, the entire community is destabilized.

For these and other reasons, foreclosure should be a last resort and reducing the growing rate of foreclosures is the shared responsibility of homeowners, lenders, real estate professionals, community organizations and government.

The situation is critical and is about to become more so.

Full story is available on Arizona Daily Star