A pair of reports provide some examples of problems with risky home loans. From Ohio. "Janice Lattimore Brown faced a mountain of bills after her son's car crash. So when a broker told her she could reduce her monthly house payment with a specialty mortgage, she signed on without reading the fine print. For the first three years, she paid about $700 per month on a fixed rate."

"But then an adjustable rate indexed to mortgage trends kicked in. Last year, just when she was laid off from her clerical job, her monthly payment climbed to $1,200. A non-profit agency, helped her refinance at an affordable fixed rate. 'You live and you learn,' she said."

"In the past five years, millions of Americans joined the home ownership and refinancing boom by signing up for riskier mortgages with adjustable rates and low initial payments. But now the tease is becoming the big squeeze."

The Denver Post. "In Douglas County, one of the nation's fastest-growing and most affluent counties, the call of the needy is getting louder. Requests for energy assistance, food stamps and welfare have risen by staggering rates over the past five years. Food stamp cases alone are up 660 percent."

"Douglas officials worry that the worst is yet to come, pointing to an unknown number of 'almost-desperate' residents, people living off credit cards and the equity of their homes. Already, the county anticipates about 1,400 foreclosures this year, up from 270 homes in 2001 and 912 last year."

"'Linda' is one of Douglas County's new poor. She grew up in Castle Rock. Just two years ago, her life was stable. But then Linda was laid off just as her husband's computer business began to slip. Meanwhile, the interest-only, adjustable rate mortgage on the family's two-bedroom duplex swelled from $750 to $1,550 a month."

"The burst of the metro region's high-tech bubble left many Douglas County residents paying for more house than they can afford. Families have milked the equity in their homes and maxed out credit cards."

"'It does no one any good for anyone to go under,' said County Commissioner Melanie Worley. 'It's a drain on our economy; it's a drain on our social-services budget.' While struggling residents can receive money for rent, power and food through Hand-Up, most will have to sign a contract promising to participate in counseling and meet career, money-management and family goals."

"'We're going to continue to help people, but we're not going to continue to spend money just to allow people to tread water,' said George Kennedy, director of human services for Douglas County."

"For Linda, she's done all that the experts would recommend: After she lost her job, she got a teaching degree, then a master's degree. Until it closed in March, she taught at a private school. Now she is hopeful that the county school system will give her a job."