Lenders taking back homes in foreclosure - especially in Las Vegas - are having to offer the occupants "cash for keys" in order to get them to leave the home without vandalizing it out of spite due to their unwelcome situation. It seems a large number of people actually trash their (former) home before they leave the premises.

These days, bankers and mortgage companies often find that by the time they get the keys back, embittered homeowners have stripped out appliances, punched holes in walls, dumped paint on carpets and, as a parting gift, locked their pets inside to wreak further havoc. Real-estate agents estimate that about half of foreclosed properties to be sold by mortgage companies nationwide have "substantial" damage, according to a new survey by Campbell Communications, a marketing and research firm based in Washington, D.C.

...Light switches, outlet covers and thermostats were smashed. There was what looked to be crowbar damage along the staircase. A large pool of paint had hardened on the living-room carpet. It appeared that someone had dripped motor oil in a trail that wound its way through every carpeted room. The appliances were gone, as were most light fixtures. A cabinet door had been removed and left soaking in a full tub of water. Not a wall was left without a hole the diameter of a closet rod, including the pink child's room once carefully decorated with a floral wallpaper stripe. It's damage that Mr. Carver described as "a vengeance-type thing."

"Some people have issues, and need to do what they have to do, I guess," he said.

How will these people react to hyperinflation, a job market squeeze, rising tax rates, a credit crackdown, and credit cards that charge 18% instead of 0%?