Shakedown Nation

True story: Harold & Maude are a forty-something couple with two teenaged kids. Both are educated, both work in IT, both are fairly sophisticated, financially speaking. 

The Road to Hell, by Paul Stevenson.

Back in 2003, they bought a vacation condo, in Mono County, California—you know, where Mammoth Lake and the Mammoth ski resort are located, right next to Yosemite National Park. They bought the condo in mid 2003, then flipped it later that same year—they closed escrow the first week of 2004, with every t crossed, with every i dotted. 

They went on with their lives: Work, vacations, kids, school, job, carpool—same-old-same-old, just like millions of other ordinary citizens. 

Then one day in March of this year, they get a letter—a pretty frightening letter, actually. 

Read more »