Florida, one of the hottest real estate markets during the insanity of the housing bubble, is suffering from a barrage of wildfires that look suspiciously like the work of arsonists. When the credit crisis struck and housing values began to fade, I wondered about the potential for unethical and desperate homeowners willing to experiment with creative ways to escape their financial obligations. With many homeowners over-leveraged and paying for homes worth less than their mortgages, otherwise known as “underwater” mortgages, I thought that some homeowners would happily walk out of their homes and mortgages. I also thought that we might see some homeowners attempting to collect on their home/fire insurance policies by lighting things up.

The arsonists are covering their tracks by starting more than one fire. It is much harder to pinpoint who would be motivated to escape from their rapidly deflating home equity values by taking a torch to things. Whatever happened to rule of law and respect for property?

On a related note, Jordy Gunderson cites an interesting piece from presidential candidate Ron Paul regarding the mistakes big government made in managing the economy.