Even with heavily touted "relief" programs like Project Lifeline, home foreclosures are still rising at a rapid pace. Bloomberg reports that filings for foreclosures in April went up 65 percent over this time last year.

So, while economists debate about whether we are in a recession, and whether the housing market problems will put us there if we aren’t already, the fact remains that there are real people out there losing their homes.

And that may have a real impact on the economy.