Underwater homeowners in North Las Vegas

Homeowner Steve Shoaff peers over a fence to see a ransacked backyard, a telltale sign of another home abandoned after foreclosure. He’s “underwater” on his mortgage but is planing to stick it out.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Gay Shoaff has taken on the task of removing weeds from the otherwise untended front yards of vacant homes to keep the neighborhood from looking abandoned and run-down.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Steve and Gay Shoaff are “underwater” on their mortgage. Their $187,980 home is now worth $99,220. “This house won’t be worth what we paid on it until after we die,” she said.
Read full story “Leaving North Las Vegas no option for many ‘underwater’ homeowners”  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Charles Mills is “underwater” with the mortgage on his home, which is worth at least $100,000 less than he paid for it. He and his family can barely afford to stay, but he also can’t afford to move. Jobs in Nevada are scarce, so he’s preparing to leave his wife and daughter behind so he can take a job in the Oklahoma oil fields to pay expenses.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Gay Shoaff is reflected in a window as she views damage to an outdoor spa tub in the ransacked backyard at a vacant home. She and her husband have tried to keep vacant properties in their neighborhood from looking too run-down.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Barry Cohen, 45, an engineer, moved to the Las Vegas area from Pasadena in 2004. The bottom has since dropped out of the local job market, and Cohen has been out of work since the end of 2009. His home is worth $100,000 less than he paid.
Read full story “Leaving North Las Vegas no option for many ‘underwater’ homeowners”  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)