There was a time when all that Sacramento County Sheriff's Deputy Mark Habecker knew about mortgages was his own monthly payment. He had never heard of subprime loans or the term "cash for keys." The deputy could count on one hand the times he'd evicted homeowners.
Then came the housing crisis.
Now, Habecker converses smartly about adjustable-rate mortgages. He knows all about home values. And while most of his evictions still involve landlord-tenant disputes, he has new layers of paper in his stack of eviction notices. They're from banks taking back houses.
On a recent Monday, it's only 9:45 a.m., but Habecker, 46, is already pulling into the driveway of a Del Paso Heights home repossessed by a bank. The 78-year-old house was foreclosed in February. But its troubles continue.
"Stay back," Habecker tells a rider in his patrol car as he goes to the front door. A barefoot woman has walked out a side door. The two talk, and Habecker goes inside. A man walks out the front. The deputy follows – mission accomplished.
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