Andy Kroll wanders through the rubble of California's subprime crisis and finds homeowners waiting 10-12 hours in lines for mortgage relief, plummeting property values, and what may be the seeds of more foreclosures to come.
Kroll visits a crowded mortgage relief center outside San Francisco and neighborhoods in Stockton riddled with abandoned homes and wonders how anyone can see this and call it an economic recovery. He writes:
"A passerby, stealing a quick glance, might have taken the crowd for avid concertgoers staked out for tickets. There was, however, no concert here -- just weary, huddled souls, slouched in vinyl folding chairs, covered by blankets, windbreakers, and knit hats against a late autumn chill. This was, in fact, the latest stop on the "Save the Dream" tour, a massive homeowner-relief event organized by a consumer advocate group, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA).
No one -- not a single person -- I interviewed at "Save the Dream" agreed with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner or Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke that their country was on the economic rebound."
FULL STORY: Housing Meltdown, Ground Zero
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