News Center 5's Amalia Barreda said in Thursday March 16th report that banks are withholding homes of people who cannot pay and things are getting out of hand in the state of Brockton .

It's a frightful situation in Brockton . The City of Champions is unable to survive the demanding blows on the foreclosure front.

The Brockton mayor James Harrington said that about 500 to 600 properties are either in foreclosure or about to go into foreclosure.

They already have too much to pay and if there is a single financial crisis they can easily loose their homes according to Sheila Farragher-Gemma, of ForeclosuresMass.com.

In the three years from 2003 to 2006, the number of foreclosures in Brockton went up 177 %.

Most people fall victims of out of state lenders who give subprime loans and the large immigrant community who don't even understand English get into something they don't know can break their dreams of having their own home in America rather they may be left homeless without them realizing it.

City Hall is working with the housing authority to help people in trouble. The mayor says there is a risk that this will lead to further decline in the real estate.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wcvb/20070315/lo_wcvb/11263153