..and then the renters moved in.

What's worse, irresponsible owners or irresponsible renters? There's an amusing article in the Real Estate journal about the way the speculative boom down south went sour when the market turned, spawning complaints from residents who now live in neighborhoods with absentee landlords.

"I like to know my neighbors," says Lyletta Robinson, who says she has had disputes with some of the tenants in her 18-unit condo complex in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. "I like to know who's coming and going out of our building, and it's difficult to do that with renters."

Of course, plenty of renters cut their grass, take in the garbage cans and turn down the music at 9 p.m. And not all homeowners are model neighbors. Denise Bower, of Community Management, Inc., which manages 122 developments around Portland, Ore., says renters are often more responsive to complaints because they know they run the risk of losing their leases if they don't. "I have more problems with owners, by far," Ms. Bower says. "They get stubborn."