More people are turning away from underwater mortgages

No one knows for sure the exact percentage of foreclosures that are the result of people’s decisions to stay away from underwater mortgages, but do I know those numbers are on the rise. Reports indicate that 14% to 18% of foreclosures are actually strategic defaults.

In other words, people who choose not to pay their underwater mortgages while keeping up with their other bills.

what we do What I’m sure is that more homeowners are finally getting the message that it’s okay to save yourself and your family and strategically default if your mortgage is under water. In one survey, 31% of people viewed their foreclosures as strategic, up 9% from the previous year.

And we also know that the more immersed a homeowner is, the more likely they are to think like an investor and be rational when making mortgage decisions. This makes sense: It’s much easier to get excited when your mortgage is only 5% submerged and you love the house than when it’s 25% or more submerged and you see the tide wash away your retirement.

What we’re saying here is that people are finally realizing that a mortgage is a legal contract, not a moral obligation. Even the Mortgage Bankers Association, who would not hesitate to call any real human being irresponsible who defaulted, defaulted on their mortgage on their own headquarters in February 2010!

So why are more people walking away from their submerged mortgages? We like to think it’s because we’re all becoming aware of the double standards being pushed by mortgage lenders and the banking industry.

When mortgage bankers get away from your own underwater mortgages, why shouldn’t we?

Let’s take a look at who really has something to lose here. If you’ve only been on your mortgage a while and it’s seriously under water, you could lose tens of thousands or even millions of thousands of dollars if you stay on that mortgage. If you’re a lucky lottery winner and can afford that kind of loss on a mortgage, more power to you.

But most of us have families and other responsibilities. Most of us realize that we will be alone in retirement. Mortgage lenders and government officials who tell us to follow “the rules”…their rules for us, not for them!they certainly aren’t going to be there when we’re trying to figure out how to live from one Social Security check (if that!) to another.

So why should anyone keep trying to swim underwater, so to speak, when we need our hard-earned money to get back on dry land?

We are not arguing that giving up your mortgage is a sound moral decision. We don’t think morality is involved here! He has a contract that is not convenient for him to continue. Your mortgage is far enough under the water and you officially have a bad investment on your hands. What do companies do with bad investments? Get away from them!

We hope that what you’ve read here and what you’ll read elsewhere on our website helps you realize that walking away from your sunken mortgage can be a good business decision. And morally, you are not responsible to your mortgage lender; After all, the lender gets your house! But you are ultimately responsible for yourself and your family!