For Toby Newton, the problem started with a debt that looked painfully manageable.
The 53-year-old Mesa, Arizona, homeowner had fallen behind on quarterly homeowners association assessments of roughly $170. By the time the dispute escalated, the unpaid assessments and interest totaled about $977.
What followed was far more consequential. Newton’s four-bedroom home, purchased in 2022 for roughly $449,328 to $475,000 depending on the figure cited by different reports, went through a foreclosure proceeding. The debt expanded through attorney fees and court costs, a default judgment was entered, and the property eventually went to a Maricopa County Sheriff’s auction…