The Wilsons tried to keep up with their mortgage payments but found it impossible. For the past several months they've been requesting a reprieve from making the monthly installments until they could both find steady work. Bobbie said various mortgage representatives told her they couldn't get help until they stopped making their payments. Their last, of $1,700, was in March.

"The mortgage company will probably do something now," Bobbie said.

For Rose, it is still tough to climb out his financial hole. But he did get one bit of good news lately. His request for a reprieve from his monthly $971 mortgage payment was approved. He doesn't have to pay for four months -- June until September. The mortgage company will also continue to pay property taxes during the forbearance period.

Desperate, Rose has tapped into a home equity line of credit, borrowing $2,000 just to pay for basic necessities. That money will be gone soon, too, if he doesn't find a job.

Rose has been unemployed for more than a year. Unlike many who have been laid off, he had saved enough to cover his expenses for a year. All that money is now gone. He also has exhausted his unemployment benefits, although he's applied for another extension. He got his last unemployment check on his birthday in May.

Rose was elated when he received a job offer as a communications specialist with a major government contractor based in Virginia at a salary of $80,000, only $5,000 less than what he made at his last job as director of communications for a nonprofit. However, the offer was contingent on Rose obtaining a federal interim security clearance and then a full security clearance.

Rose was denied the interim clearance. He doesn't know why. He says there's nothing in his background that would indicate a problem. To find out why he was denied, he has to submit a signed written request to the Defense Security Service's Office of Freedom of Information and Privacy, a spokesperson told me in an e-mail. That's just ridiculous. Given the job market, Rose shouldn't have to jump through such a hoop. What if the reason for the denial is something he could easily and quickly clear up had he been informed? Rose suspects it has something to do with the recent fraud alerts he placed on his credit reports after his wallet was stolen.

"It's been frustrating, to say the least," Rose said. "If I was denied an interim clearance because of a fraud alert I put on my own account, there's something wrong with how they process these kinds of things. It's a strange twist, regardless, one I wish I hadn't come across."

The contractor didn't wait. The company offered the position to another candidate.

Rose is back to looking for a job.