Dave echos a sentiment I’ve begun to hear more and more often. Apparently, it’s getting more and more OK to walk away from ones mortgage:
This isn’t about having your credit score ruined or not being able to get another mortgage for a few more years. It also isn’t about a moral choice anymore, as I thought it was back in 2008. This is about people who have gotten screwed over by the very banks that we have been paying to keep in existence. The banks get all the help they need while the people get nothing – it’s a messed up system right now.
The logic here is truly mind-bending. Let me see if I can get this straight: Those darn banks got bailed out, which is unfair and shouldn’t have happened. But because we did go and bail them out, we should also bail out those people who borrowed far more than they should have. Which is also unfair, but you know, two wrongs always make a right. 
As far as those people walking away from their homes, I have little sympathy for them. Nobody twisted their arm to get them to sign that mortgage contract. They rolled the dice in a game they shouldn’t have been playing. Just because they greatly discounted the odds of snake eyes coming up doesn’t mean they shouldn’t lose when it comes up. At the very least, *I* certainly shouldn’t be losing because they did.
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and the banks rolled the dice as well. they knew they were making loans to people that couldn't afford the payments. but they only cared about getting the fees from making the loan. the banks had no interest in a person's ability to make the loan payment because the banks sold the loan to someone else as soon as the ink was on the loan papers.
sorry, you seem to have plenty of hatred for the homeowners. how about some disgust for the immoral bankers?
Did the banks get a ridiculously sweet deal out of this whole thing? Absolutely. Should they suffer some sort of consequence far beyond what they have now? Without a doubt. That's a job for the regulators, and it would be wonderful if those in power would grow a pair and get something done rather than bicker over who should get the credit or blame. (ah, now I'm off on a whole 'nother tangent)
But we aren't talking about the banks walking away from their end of a deal here. We're talking about the homeowners doing so. So, hatred? Hardly. Call it a utter lack of sympathy. The banks were certainly complicit in this game, but that doesn't make the other party anything like innocent. No overt force was used to get them into these deals. It shouldn't be too hard to look at the payment and realize that it is more than you can afford.
Contracts are economic arrangements, not marriage vows. They can be broken, so long as you are willing to pay the cost.”
Reality Check: To say that contracts can be broken merely because you are willing to pay damages is beyond stupid. That is like saying that its okay that I ram your car with my car on the Interstate so long as I am willing to pay for any resulting damage. Or, taken to the extreme, that I can dump gasoline on you while you walk the street and then toss a match on you, so long as am willing to pay you for your damages.
Thanks & Regards
Amber Williams
http://www.datarecoverysoftware.com
What ever happened to personal responsibility? I don't recall anyone coming to bail me out after making stupid decisions in my life. You live and you learn…unless there are no consequences as in this case, which is why it will probably happen again. The best teachings come from failure.
I agree that the corporate world has different rules that rolled down to the small man on the pole when all these bad loans were being handed out. As a realtor we would have meetings with managment about deals we had going and I remember the managers saying lets get the commission and let the dumb ass lender worry about his situation. Well, I had at least 3 people in the past 5 years lose their home because the were sold a bad loan. I didn't know what to look for, but I do now, so be warned mortgage people the checks and balances will be checked.
I do believe it is not fair that banks got bailed out while the home owners got nothing but walking out on your mortgage is not a smart choice at all. It just makes this whole housing situation much worse and will destroy your credit as well.
Though it wasn't fair that the banks got bailed out, it was necessary. The economy was about to collapse because banks got bad at screwing people. People also did over react a bit as well, not thinking about the fact that this happens every 20 or 30 years.
I would never recommend walking away from your mortgage. It might save you money short terms, but the hit to your credit will end up costing you more in the long term.
would love to read more posts from you…
Nice article. Thanks for the post.
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