Chiordi held on as long as he could. A year ago, he left his job at the auto dealership and started another new business, setting up Internet sites for auto dealers. He felt that was what the Lord wanted him to do. The idea might have been sound. The timing was not.
"Just because you believe God is leading you in that direction," he said, "doesn't mean it is going to be easy. And that was my downfall, thinking that it was going to be easy."
Chiordi managed to drum up only a few clients. By December he found himself unable to make his mortgage payments. He tried to paddle his way through, sending out more than 100 resumes, citing his experience in the aircraft industry, auto sales, computers, church youth groups.
"It's frustrating," he said. "It doesn't seem like anybody is interested in hiring a 54-year-old who doesn't have a college degree, despite my experience."
So far the best he has been able to do is Wal-Mart.
"I sell oil changes for a living now," Chiordi said flatly.
In June, with the bank moving to seize his home, Chiordi filed for bankruptcy. Maybe he had overreached -- putting his faith in the boom, pushing hard for a better life -- but his were not uncommon mistakes in this time and place.
Still, he said, "I hate the idea of not paying my bills. The first time, I didn't have God in my life. This time I did, and that makes all the difference. The Scripture says if you have got bills, you have got to pay them. I feel like I sinned. But I will be forgiven. My faith in God is stronger than ever, and I'm letting him guide me."
Despite the onslaught of foreclosures, many people around Moreno Valley believe this slump won't be as severe as the first. Some development projects have stalled, but others go forward. When the tide rolls back in, most everybody agrees, the city will renew its march across the desert floor, advancing toward a population of 300,000. It's just a matter of hanging on.
With financial help from his extended family, Chiordi will be moving this month with his wife, two grown children and two grandchildren into a house they've bought on a hill in the eastern corner of town. It's a tidy beige structure, built only four years ago, with a terra cotta roof and a backyard view of Moreno Valley spread out below. It had fallen into foreclosure last April, and the price was right.
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peter.king@latimes.com
