Recession means lost homes, desperation: "We've sold cars, furniture, everything we could to put food on the table.''

Sheriff's Lt. Estella Frontella said deputies have been overseeing about 120 to 150 "lockouts'' a month this calendar year, double from 60 to 70 evictions a month last year.

SHOOT: We still haven't seen the full extent of this. People are eating through thyeir pensions, savings, credit cards, charity from family and friends. Once that is over there will be a transition to something else, less orderly.

clipped from www.mercurynews.com Deputy Robert Aviles rapped lightly on the door of a house on Sunbrook Court. He was there on behalf of Wells Fargo to evict the homeowners. But instead of swinging inward, the front door fell backward and hit the foyer floor with a bang, adding a discordant, cartoonish quality to the somber bank takeover. The couple who lost the East San Jose house had stripped it of every marketable object before moving out, including the handsome oak door, propping up — without hinges — a cheap blue one in its place. Aviles has seen stripped houses before on the eviction beat, but never one so thoroughly denuded: Every cabinet, sink, toilet, light fixture and even light-switch faceplate was gone. Later, the daughter of the homeowner explained, "We've sold cars, furniture, everything we could to put food on the table.'' Some homeowners wait until the very last minute to move out.