Like Another Linda, I have seen those I know caught in this quicksand through no fault of their own. Family friends. A young couple successful by all standards. She took a new job to do research. His company lets him work from home. Away they went. Go West, Young Couple. Go West.

They had a down payment. Bought what they could afford. They were responsible. They played by the rules. They thought they did anyway.

Nobody told them that there were no rules anymore. Their neighbors did not play by any rules. And neither did those who loaned those neighbors money. Speculators. Fraud. A government that did not care to watch. Why???? A lethal combination.

And this young couple did nothing wrong. Except for thinking that there were rules. Rules like there always had been. Rules that their parents told them about. Down payment. Buy what you can afford. You all remember those rules.

Now they are watching their hard-earned home lose value by the minute. They are surrounded. Multiple familes living in single-family homes. Neglected property. Swimming pools full of mosquitoes. No end in sight.

And researchers have to move for their jobs sometimes. Funding can run out for those projects. Then what? A hard-earned home that cannot be sold and a hard-earned PhD that cannot be used without the home being sold for a move. The American Dream becomes The American Nightmare.

I see the faces in this one, too, Linda.

Boomer