BAXTER - Foreclosure numbers for 2010 in lakes area counties represent a staggering sum.

"The No.1 driver for foreclosure in the state of Minnesota is unemployment and underemployment," said Ed Nelson, marketing and communication manager with St. Paul-based Minnesota Home Ownership Center. "Until we start seeing our unemployment rate drop and stay dropped, we're going to see elevated numbers of foreclosures."

In 2010, there were 71,556 pre-foreclosure notices sent to Minnesota families.

While not all the foreclosures represent a homestead lost, since reports indicate a rise in second-home foreclosures, the majority are serving as primary homes.

Nelson presented a preview of preliminary foreclosure numbers Thursday at a Greater Lakes Association of Realtors seminar in Baxter.

Final numbers are expected in a February report, but initial figures, which may change slightly, present a picture of the extensive mortgage crisis. Nelson said the figures, especially in hard hit Crow Wing and Mille Lacs counties, mean up to 8 percent of all residential parcels are in foreclosure.

"These are dramatically high numbers," Nelson said.

Aitkin County had 330 foreclosures in the last four years, with about 96 in 2010. A line graph shows Aitkin County foreclosures rising more gradually in 2006 before accelerating in 2008 and leveling off in 2009.

Crow Wing County had 388 foreclosures in 2010 for a running foreclosure total of just less than 1,600 households in the last four years. For Crow Wing, the numbers began a rather steep rise in 2007, bumped up even farther in 2008 before leveling off in 2009.

Cass County's graph showed a 30 percent increase in foreclosures between 2009 and 2010. Cass County foreclosures

 climbed from less than 80 in 2006 to 158 foreclosures in 2010.

Mille Lacs County's foreclosures shot up in 2006, more than doubled by 2007 and climbed even higher in 2008. Nelson said the Mille Lacs County foreclosures have leveled off but at elevated numbers. The county had 226 foreclosures in 2010, slightly higher than 2009.

Morrison County had 505 foreclosures in the last four years. Todd County's graph indicates a steady rise of a launched rocket yet to reach its full height. The county had 381 foreclosures since 2006.

"Those charts are heading upward," Nelson said. "Even though we will see a mild dip in the overall statewide numbers, you all are working in an area that is extremely hard hit and those numbers have not yet begun to drop."

If people expect housing to lead the way in the economic recovery, Nelson said, "It's not going to happen. It's going to be the other way around."

If there is a positive, Nelson said there is help available with free foreclosure prevention counseling and it works best when homeowners seek help before they fall behind in their payments.

"If they aren't even behind yet, there are lots of options available to them," Nelson said, adding too often people wait until the foreclosure sale is days away. "This foreclosure crisis is hitting people who have never needed to look for help before, have never needed to seek out services before and they don't know where to turn for help."

In some cases, Nelson said they are falling victim to scam artists. He pointed to one example of a family paying $28,000 to what they thought was a mortgage rescue company that was passing their payment on to the bank. The payments never made it to the lender and the home was lost.

"This isn't a metro thing," Nelson said. "This is happening here."

Struggling homeowners should also be skeptical of requests if someone offers to purchase their option to redeem their home following a sheriff's sale. Nelson said homes with outstanding mortgages of $190,000 have sold at foreclosure sales for $24,000. To get their house back, homeowners would have to pay only the foreclosure sale price.

The foreclosure counseling looks at options and educates homeowners on the process and helps people negotiate through the maze. Nelson said in 2009, 13,719 households received counseling with more than half avoiding foreclosure. He said that number increased to 64 percent in 2010.

But the free foreclosure counseling, funded in part by the government and through philanthropic donations, is facing its own crisis. Nelson said after March there is a $4 million gap to fund the program through 2011.

For more information about a housing counselor from the Minnesota Home Ownership Center, go online to www.hocmn.org or call (866) 462-6466.

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.