My Recession of Early 1980s
In the early 1980s, the U.S. entered an economic recession caused by the Federal Reserve's acting to raise interest rates to curb high inflation. High mortgage interest rates put a virtual halt to residential sales. I was a residential appraiser at the time, and found next to nothing to work on. I rented our house so as not to lose it back to the lender. We rented an apartment for my small family that included two children aged 2 and 3. My financial savior was the chief appraiser at the Indianapolis HUD office, Phil Caito, who allowed me onto the panel of appraisers making FHA appraisals. ( In those days, HUD approved appraisers directly, unlike later when mortgage companies were given the ability to approve appraisers.) Working night and day, FHA at the time saved my financial ass.