We’ve been warned by cautious economists that foreclosures would haunt us for quite some time. But according to a report issued a short time ago by RealtyTrac, we lost a record number of American homes to foreclosure in the first quarter of 2010.

April 15 (Bloomberg) — Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose 16 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier and bank seizures hit a record as lenders stepped up action against delinquent homeowners, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

A total of 932,234 homes, or one out of every 138 households, received a default or auction notice, or were repossessed by banks, the Irvine, California-based firm said today. In March, filings rose 8 percent to the most in any month since RealtyTrac began publishing reports in January 2005.

In just three months we lost one out of every 138 American homes, or about 932,000 units, to foreclosure. In three months. Why?

Unemployed and “underwater” homeowners, or those who owe more than their property is worth, are driving foreclosures. The U.S. jobless rate was 9.7 percent in March, unchanged for a third month, the Labor Department reported April 2. More than a fifth of mortgaged homes were underwater in the fourth quarter, according to real estate data firm Zillow.com.

Bank repossessions climbed to 257,944 in the quarter. Scheduled auctions totaled 369,491, also the most since RealtyTrac began releasing data.

How’s the rest of the year looking? Equally grim. RealtyTrac is projecting four million foreclosure filings in 2010. We’re looking at 1 million bank seizures alone. Both of them would be records. Meanwhile, RealtyTrac doesn’t see foreclosures leveling off until next year.

And there’s very bad news for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who just happens to be up for re-election this November. His home state has the highest foreclosure rate in the country for the 14th straight quarter. A whopping one in thirty-three households received a notice.