It’s not really a ‘robbery’ to walk away. The remedy for the mortgage not being paid is written into the mortgage. If you don’t pay, they get the house. If the bank wasn’t satisfied with this remedy, they shouldn’t have written the loan that way. Remember, they are the ones who wrote it.
It wouldn’t be something I’d want to consider, but then again, I didn’t consider getting into one of these silly situations in the first place. But if I had, knowing that the banks are getting bailouts with my tax dollars, why not let them deal with the albatross of the rapidly devaluing house around their neck instead of me? Meanwhile, I put my money away, downsize, and rent somewhere.
“It’s not really a ‘robbery’ to walk away.”
My comment is not very clear, so I can understand how it might be misunderstood. To clarify, my comment was in response to another poster that mentions the robbery perpetrated on individuals by the bankers, brokers, etc. My point is that this “robbery” is not executed until I leave the home.
It is just another way of saying that the paper loss is not realized until the sell, be it my 401K or my home, so it isn’t robbery until I decide that it is.
As a point of reference, I have been banging down my debt for the last 2 years and even with the paper loss of 40% on my home value and my 401K, I have increased my net worth by 12% in that time period. I will have it up to an increase of net worth at about 24% by the end of this year.
Dingdingdingding!!! WINNER!!