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Lisa Napoli: Renters are becoming the latest victims of the mortgage mess. Marketplace’s Sam Eaton reports.

Sam Eaton: Here’s the scenario: During the housing boom, speculators scooped up lots of properties. The idea was rent them for a while, then sell them for a profit.

But things didn’t really go as planned. Now, a growing number of landlords face foreclosure, and their tenants are getting eviction notices, too.

Danilo Pelletiere with the National Low Income Housing Coalition says the problem could reach crisis levels:

Danil Pelletiere: The best numbers we have are from Hennepin County in Minnesota, Minneapolis, where they have calculated that 40 percent of the foreclosures were rental units.

And with rents on the rise, Pelletiere says many evicted tenants are ending up in shelters. He says renters will continue to outpace available units. That means there’s little relief on the horizon.

Meanwhile, a record number of foreclosed homes sit vacant, with “for sale” signs out front.

In Los Angeles, I’m Sam Eaton for Marketplace.