No.
But a lot of people would be happy to not pay their loan off, and blame someone else for their poor decisions.
And course we will all pay for it.
Someone who loses a job, gets sick, etc is one thing.
But those who are underwater and choose not to keep making payments is another thing entirely.
As Rick Santelli said a couple of years ago, who wants to pay their neighbors mortgage?
I don't.
Even if you proudly pay double these alleged “lenders” have already used your mortgage instrument to profit well beyond the stated amount agreed to at the table. What you signed at that table actually means nothing. Once YOUR loan (I’m assuming you have one for the sake of discussion) was securitized the terms then become defined by the Pooling and Servicing Agreement of the trust or trusts it landed in. Go ahead and try to find your PSA. Call your alleged “lender” and ask them about it. Until recently you couldn’t even pry it out of them in court. ICE Legal did and look what happened. GMAC, JPMorgan, suddenly realized they mixed up some papers? Baloney. Let’s see who’s next.
As it stands now they make even more if you don’t pay. The reason for this is: Credit Default Swaps were purchased using the fluff created by the alleged “lender’s” agent, the property appraiser. The “collateral” was insured multiple times at the outcome based phony value primarily by AIG and we know what happened to them. Does Santelli mind paying AIG’s Credit Default Swap Flops? Do you? That is a significantly larger sum of $$$ than your neighbors mortgage.
I hear the screaming and yelling about property taxes being so high. MERS was the brainchild of this consortium of alleged “lenders” to skip out on paying the legally requires doc stamps and recording fees to YOUR state’s tax coffers but that is a whole ‘nother story.
In 1773 not everyone was in the Sam Adams camp when the real tea party took place in Boston Harbor.
You already know this, but your BIL made one of the better decisions for the predicament he was/is in. I strongly believe that when it comes to finances people NEED/HAVE to approach it from a totally non-emotional perspective. Just a couple of days ago I saw a thread on FR where some FReepers (that I personally respect) were saying how those who strategically default (it was a thread on how the wealthy strategically default, and how the less wealthy tend to hang onto their mortgages) were 'immoral' and all sorts of words and phrases. I could have said something, but then again that thread had become quite emotional, and there was no way I would have made anything approaching a cogent statement without it unraveling into something closely resembling a flame war (which 6-7 years ago I had no problem wading into, but nowadays tend to avoid since it is largely a waste of time).
Anyways, when it comes to finances (and investment), you need to be unemotional. A mean-lean-logic-machine. Anything else (e.g. that is 'wrong') is your behind. I know of a case where someone even refused to take a super job because he felt 'bad' for his employer, not knowing that the employer would not feel bad for a moment if the loci were reversed (I even know of a couple of pals who were fired via voice mail). My investment record (when I was a fund manager - now I work at a certain organization handling private equity, which is similar but different) was really good ...simply because I could just switch off parts of me and approach the situation with a cold logic. Got me good returns when others were running negatives.
You see people who are so FAR below water (the value of the house is less than half the value of the loan), were not planning to stay in that house (i.e. it was a speculative investment ....it would be alright if you were going to be in the house for years), and have already started cannibalizing some sort of savings account they had (e.g. they are paying all their bills, including mortgage, from a US$ 5,000 account they have ....and that account will be finished in 5 months or less, and they will STILL be in the same position ...and STILL lose their house). Would it not make more sense to have a serious look at their finances, and if there is no way they can get out, take a decision to get a nice rental (while their credit is still good), and move there (and in the process keep the US$5K)?
To some that is wrong and immoral, and maybe it is, but there is a reason those with money take such decisions, and others keep leaching their savings account until it is empty,and they still find themselves foreclosed on, and with bad credit, etc etc etc.
Anyways, just my (immoral) views.