You’re paying your bills, but your landlord isn’t. And you’re the one holding the eviction notice.

Last month, I may have glimpsed the Washington region’s future — I spent five days in sprawling, traffic-choked Los Angeles.

Home values tumbled at a record rate in October, according to a widely watched report released yesterday that also indicated that the housing downturn is spreading and worsening.

Arlington County’s assessor has what passes for bright economic news this holiday season: Home values are down just 2 percent, and commercial assessments have actually ticked up by 1 percent.

Many Maryland homeowners will see the softening real estate market reflected in lower property assessments mailed yesterday, although the change won’t necessarily reduce their tax bills significantly.

What will new homes look like after this recession, which has brought construction nearly to a halt? Consumers who have learned the bitter lessons about declining home values, burdensome debts and ephemeral retirement savings values may well demand different houses than the ones that dot our recently built neighborhoods.

Real estate editor Maryann Haggerty and writer Elizabeth Razzi respond to a question adapted from a recent online chat.

With mortgage rates at historic lows — 4.75 percent from several lenders in mid-December — a new legal settlement from the Federal Trade Commission offers a cautionary note for consumers, especially if they are members of minority groups: Watch out.

A government-backed alliance of mortgage lenders yesterday said it kept 2.2 million homeowners out of foreclosure this year, even as a separate report showed that many of those people likely fell back into trouble.

The housing market weakened further in November with the sales of both existing and new homes tumbling again, according to government and industry data released today.