We have a long way to go folks.
If you need further proof, just check out this story:
Strategic default — opting to walk away from a mortgage you can afford — isn’t a new phenomenon in the housing crisis. But with home values continuing to decline, more owners are finding themselves in a position where they may see it as a savvy business decision to destroy their credit rather than wait years for prices to recover.
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Likier put almost 20 percent down to purchase a $312,000 townhouse in Westmont in 2006 and lived there until two years ago, when he remarried and bought a home in Chicago Ridge.
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He listed the townhouse for $249,000, figuring he would bring $20,000 to the closing table to facilitate a deal. The listing has since dropped to $179,000, which is lower than the unit sold for when it was built in 1999. He stopped paying the mortgage in January and recently was served with foreclosure papers.
And the real killer?
Despite the fact that he and his wife are employed and have an annual household income near $150,000, he’s comfortable with his decision.
Yowza. A tough decision. And one I agree with.
See, when working with contracts and finances, the deal is what the deal is. The bank is no more willing to do the right thing” than you should be.
So this makes sense:
“I did a lot of soul-searching about whether it was morally the right thing to do,” he said. “I felt there was no moral obligation to make a payment. The contract says it’s a financial obligation, not a moral obligation.
“I was in a boat with a slow leak. It was manageable, but I know I was slowly sinking.”
Until we stop that sinking, we’re going to see more and more of this.
We’ve seen copper prices go through the roof. And we’ve seen copper thieves thrive.
