ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — Rising gas prices, rising taxes, rising mortgage payments. They're all contributing to tough times for local homeowners. Indiana and Michigan are in the top 10 for the number of foreclosures in the country. The numbers are growing quickly.

"We never thought we'd be where we were at," said Marlene Schindewolf of Granger.

When her husband Tom lost his job, things got tough.

"Because we'd never been in that position, you don't know what to do. You don't know who to call, you don't know where to start," she said.

When creditors started calling around the clock, she knew they had to make some tough choices to keep their house. Schindewolf says creditors were unwilling to work with them.

"The way you're treated is absolutely degrading. We've had good credit. We've paid our bills on time. We're working through this. My husband's looking for work. Just bear with us, but no one bears with you at that point," she said.

And it's not just people who've lost a job. Experts say more middle income families are being affected. Judy Fox is with the Legal Aid Clinic at Notre Dame. She's says many have become victims of predatory lenders — companies that loan money to people who shouldn't qualify at high or adjustable interest rates.

"It's a very big problem in this area," Fox said.

So big, in fact, that her clinic has started researching the numbers. Preliminary figures show that between 2001 and 2002, the number of foreclosure cases in St. Joseph County rose 151 percent. Similar increases have been reported each year since then.

"There seems to be a correlation between low income, minority neighborhoods and this kind of activity," Fox said. "I think it's a crisis and we've only seen the tip of the iceberg."

Predatory lenders target people who have equity in their home. They get them to borrow as much as they can against that equity. The lender gets a huge fee and doesn't care that the homeowner can't afford the payments. Sometimes, Fox says the lender will even alter documents and that confuses people.

"The person was told they have a payment of $400 per month. They get to the closing and the papers are all different. They think they don't have a choice. They think they have to sign it," Fox said.

But they don't and Fox says knowing your rights makes a big difference. So does getting advice. That's what helped Schindewolf get out of her problems. A credit counselor showed her there was light at the end of the financial tunnel.

"We found a mortgage company to work with us. Not only were we able to roll some things together, pay off some more bills and get out of this home equity mess. We were able to drop our interest rate down a whole percent, too," she said.

The Schindewolfs are a success story, but not every story ends the same.

Amanda Walker is with Green Path Debt Solutions. She says many people assume if the bank approves them for a loan amount, they can swing the payments.

"A lot of people don't sit down and go through their budget to figure out what can we realistically afford month to month as a payment," said Walker.

When they see trouble coming, they don't know that it's better to contact the bank. Many times, they're intimidated, but Walker says they don't need to be.

"A lot of banks and lenders will do repayment programs. If you're only a month or two behind, you pay little bit more for the next couple of months or an extra payment with the income tax returns. There are different options to get the mortgage caught up," Walker said.

Bankruptcy trustee Debra Miller says most banks don't want to foreclose. She recommends calling the bank's collection department at the first sign of trouble. If that doesn't work contact the bank's loss mitigation department.

"If someone is trying and trying to make the payments, they're going to work with people as much as they can," Miller said.

The key is to document who you talk with and what is said. And if you do seek help from a credit counselor, make sure they're reputable.

"Unfortunately, there are people who are more than willing to take advantage of people and scam them," Miller said.

She says that includes many you'll find through the internet.

Even though Congress has taken some action to stem the tide of foreclosures, Fox says the numbers will probably increase because the worst lending practices she's seen happened between 2004 and 2006.

Fox said because the credit market has dried up, some of the predatory lenders have moved on. She says, however, the danger isn't gone because there are no new rules to prevent the practice.

Fox and others started making the call for reform several years ago, but she said they were basically ignored.

"Basically we were all told we were Chicken Little, that the roof wasn't falling, that the market's fine, the market's taking care of itself. The market isn't fine and we haven't seen the end of this yet. Because some of the worst practices we are seeing were happening in 2004-05-06. Those mortgages haven't even started foreclosing yet," Fox said.

Miller said while many people would like to blame the lenders, there's plenty of blame to go around.

"You have mortgage originators who weren't doing the job and people who were getting the money out of their houses. And when everything came crashing down, there really wasn't one person that is to blame for this," Miller said.

Miller is planning an event next month to help people. They want to get various lenders and advisors together in one place so people can get advice and work on issues before they become a crisis. No date or location is set at this time.

The website www.hud.gov has lists of government approved housing credit counselors.

www.877gethope.org is a website set up to help people who are in danger of losing their homes. Telephone advice is also available: 1-877-GET-HOPE.

The South Bend Heritage Foundation is in partnership the Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network and the national organization hotline is 1-888-995-HOPE.

The city of South Bend Community and Economic Development also has a certified counselor with HUD and the state.