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 …

As a renter, I’ve always thought that I had the advantage of not having to worry about property taxes, home maintenance, unruly tenants, and worst of all the illiquidity that homeowners or real estate investors suffer from. The real estate boom almost shook my conviction but the delirious giggles caused by incessant price appreciation and easy credit thankfully reached an audible decible. I reasoned that something was awry when my close friend, a U.S. Postal letter carrier at the time, managed to lever up with mortgages on three …