A local congressman, a Woodstock housing expert, and a Harvard banker each had front-row seats to the housing crisis as it unfolded over years.

All of them say the crisis could have been tempered, or maybe avoided altogether, if warning signs were heeded and common-sense measures were in place.

"Absolutely this could have been avoided," said Sue Rose, McHenry County Housing Authority community service director. "I think when we started seeing the first trickle of foreclosures coming in, the money should have been tightened up immediately or stopped altogether."