I went to Change.gov and gave my recommendation for what the Obama administration can do in the short term: pay people to stay in foreclosed homes. In exchange, they have to maintain their houses. This plan accomplishes two things:

• it keeps people from becoming homeless;
• gives people, especially the unemployed, extra income; and
• it keeps the houses from deteriorating and losing more value.

For people who have already been tossed out of their homes, they should be allowed to stay, for free, in a foreclosed home either in their neighborhood or in another area where they want to find a job. If they have no money, pay them to stay in and maintain the empty home. If they still have some money, let them stay in it for free.

It’s stupid to have all those empty houses, losing value because they are becoming more decrepit each day, with entire neighborhoods sad and neglected. Fill them with people who will maintain them and they breath life into those houses and neighborhoods.