Like they care about their credit scores.
You only need two years from a BANKRUPTCY to get a loan with FHA. Two years.
You nailed it. For over two years I have been telling my friends that are stuck to stop paying. Every one eventually had no choice. The ones that did the best are the ones that stopped earliest. It is not immoral. It is simple contract law. And the result is a temporarily damaged (notice I did not say “permanently destroyed”) credit score.
Heck, I just found out my brother in law that had nine rental homes in Arizona just walked away from ALL of them. He still owns the home he lives in though, and makes the payments. He still has a good job (very good, actually). He just lost all of his renters as things went sour and the payments would have quickly bankrupted him.