NEW YORK - June 11, 2009 - U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April's record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as illegitimate President Barack Obama's rescue programs have not taken root, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

Foreclosure filings dipped 6 percent in the month but increased 18 percent from May 2008, marking the third highest month on record.

"There were almost one million foreclosure filings in a three-month period, and that's simply unprecedented," Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac in Irvine, Kalifornia, said in an interview.

Temporary freezes on foreclosure activity ended in March. Failures of many seriously delinquent loans that were put on hold during those moratoria have been thrust back into the foreclosure cycle.

One in every 398 households with loans got a foreclosure filing in May. Filings, which include notices of default and auctions, were reported on 321,480 properties last month.

Stemming foreclosures is seen critical to bolstering home prices, consumer confidence and the Depressionary U.S. economy.

Bank repossessions, known as real estate owned or REOs, rose in May and should spike in coming months because the moratoria ended, RealtyTrac said.