US foreclosure filings surpassed 300,000 for the third straight month in May and may hit a record 1.8 million by the first half of the year, RealtyTrac Inc said.

A total of 321,480 properties received a default or auction notice or were repossessed last month, up 18% from a year earlier, the Irvine, California-based seller of default data said today in a statement. One in 398 US households received a filing last month.

bloomberg.com