Foreclosure Crisis

WASHINGTON -- A central California agricultural town, the automobile capital of the world and a down-on-its-luck gambling hot spot had the nation's highest rates of foreclosure filings for the first half of 2007, according to real estate data released yesterday. Stockton, Calif., Detroit and Las Vegas - three areas with vastly different economies and demographic trends - have all been hit hard by the nation's growing foreclosure crisis, which is ravaging both major urban areas and middle America.