SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Carol Eckstrom dragged out a chair and staged a sit-in, just a few months after her stroke. In a way, she got what she asked for: The manager of her Sacramento mobile home park had finally hired contractors to fix the bulge in her walkway. But it would cost her $500. Eckstrom flatly disagreed that she should automatically have to pay $500 to her landlord to have the walkway fixed. She wanted time to find her own contractor. If sitting right on top of that trip hazard all day would stop the work from happening, that’s what she would do. Eckstrom is 73, a retired accountant...