Holidays Find Loan Crisis Spreading to Businesses and Neighbors

From the NYT Dec. 17, 2007:

The binge of subprime loans that flooded this area a few years ago has now given way to foreclosures and forced sales by homeowners saddled with onerous mortgages they could never repay. The effects of this free-for-all are increasingly felt even among those who did not take on risky loans. Longtime neighborhood residents worry that their property values will be sunk by the double whammy of poorly maintained homes and revolving-door neighbors, while shopkeepers on the nearby commercial strip on Boston Road — especially those who sell hardware or home furnishings — say business has plummeted by 50 percent or more, as strapped homeowners cut costs. “Everybody’s scared,” said Khemraj Ramprasad, the owner of K & R Paint and Hardware. “People are not repairing their homes as much. They’re not painting. People are taking every penny they have and putting it into paying the mortgage.”