A new California law would make strategic defaults easier, but that could harm its housing market's recovery.
The young and poor who rent their homes have been crunched both by rising housing costs and falling incomes.
Ahead of the first presidential debates, the nationwide squeeze on affordable housing has barely registered on the campaign trail.
Many neighborhoods with single-family homes have seen little or no new construction since they were built in the middle of the last century.
The housing bust proved that the federal government isn't particularly good at anticipating how many people will default.