Los Angeles Times Special Quake Report: One Year Later : Still Shaken / Voices : From the Epicenter to D.C.: Reflections on the Devastation : PETER ELIAS

President of the condominium association at Villa Saticoy, part of a Canoga Park ghost town. About half of the 36 units’ owners have walked away from their investments. Now, even with a promised $1.4-million federal loan, he and the others who stayed also may abandon the project if parts of their mortgages are not forgiven. Talks are coming to a head soon. A food market manager, Elias is living, with FEMA help, in a rental house in Woodland Hills with his wife and two young children.

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“In the beginning, I went by constantly to check on things. But as much as we boarded, the vandals got more creative, to the point they ripped the wrought-iron bars off the garage. Now the city has done a nice job with boarding and fencing, and I go there very rarely. There is nothing there for me.

“Personally, I’m pretty sure it would have to take a miracle (to make rebuilding financially doable). I’m basically doing this for anyone who is interested, and deep down inside I don’t want to be foreclosed upon. I don’t. There is a bit of optimism in me that hopes something better will come along, but reality is telling me it’s an exercise in futility. . . . It was our home, but it was a home we were looking to get rid of anyway. Financially, it will hurt a lot to come up with another down payment and have a foreclosure on my record. . . .

“I probably would never buy a condo again because of the hassles, the headaches. It’s so complicated. That’s the difference between a single-family home and us. Both could be in a world of hurt, but we have the burden that, instead of one person and one bank, we have 36 banks and 36 people. . . .

“I still have three flashlights by the bed and safety lights in every room. That rumble the other day, every slight rumble, whether it’s a plane or a truck, makes your heart jump even thought I know the odds of something heavy enough to kill me are pretty slim.”