She gives her name, but doesn’t want it printed. Foreclosure isn’t something to be proud of.

The Mankato woman’s home has been trashed by an unwelcome guest, her knee injured in an accident that cut her down to part time work only. She stopped making house payments last summer, and could only watch in January as her home was sold to the highest bidder.

It’s a tragic story, and one that’s being retold more often. Foreclosure rates are skyrocketing across the country, southern Minnesota included.

Explanations for the upswing include rising interest rates and new, riskier mortgage options. Homeowners who are just treading water are finding it easier and easier to sink.

In Blue Earth County, the number of homes sold — typically to an out-of-state mortgage company — due to foreclosure has risen by two-thirds, from 54 in 2005 to 91 in 2006, according to county records compiled by The Free Press.

In Sibley County, foreclosures increased from 25 in 2005 to 41 in 2006, an increase of 64 percent.

(Most area counties, including Nicollet County, don’t keep year-to-year records on the number of foreclosure sales.)

The Star Tribune reports a 79 percent rise in home loss due to Minneapolis foreclosures from 2005 to 2006. And the St. Cloud Times says foreclosures there have risen 83 percent.

Risky loans

Medical catastrophe and job losses have long caused mortgage foreclosures, but neither cause seems to be on a sharp upswing lately.

A state-sponsored study shows that the number of Minnesotans without health insurance rose from 2001 to 2004, but only slightly — from 5.4 percent to 6.7 percent.

And Blue Earth County’s unemployment rate has decreased from 3.3 percent in 2000 to 3.2 percent in 2006, according to state figures.

Denise Nienow, vice president of Pioneer Bank, said declining interest rates in the late ’90s allowed prospective home buyers to buy more expensive homes.

Mortgage lenders began to allow so-called “boutique” loans that can carry more risk.

They include adjustable-rate loans, which take advantage of initially low interest rates but can cause dramatically higher payments when rates go up.