Should I walk away from my "underwater" home?

by The Berean 113 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Robdar

  Too many have abused this safety net (financial strategy...right, "charge!"), and now the bankruptcy laws are much tougher because of it. Now, when more people are honestly in need of it.

  Watson is correct, the bankruptcy laws are much more complicated now. Nobody is able to file a bankruptcy without just cause but that doesn't stop them from trying. Just yesterday, after all the work we had done on their case, the atty I work for threw a couple out of the office because he smelled fraud. We gave them back their money and told them to hit the road.
• 

  JeffT

  Robdar, it must be nice working for a decent attorney, and good for him/her. I get tired of dealing with people who are trying to game the system because they think they can. In my industry it's people who think they shouldn't have to pay the rent (because they just bought a car, they need the money for drugs, the kid stole it, whatever).
• 

  Robdar

  JeffT, the attorney I work for is a good man. I am so fortunate to be learning the ropes from him. He has been practicing for 48 years and his reputation is impeccable. Although he isn't going to put up with nonsense, we are not short of clients and most of our revenue comes by referral.

  I understand your frustration with the gamers. It seems we are becomming a society that thinks it is entitled to all the good things of life without having to pay for them.

  I blame the liberals. LOL
• 

  wasastar

  Berean,

  I lost a home in the economic downturn of the 80's. A mortgage is a business deal not a moral contract with God. If you were a lying cheat that is one thing. However if you decide that the business is failing you may not want to throw good money after bad. You do not IMHO have a moral responsibility to pay back the mortgage. Maybe a legal or it might be in your financial interests but certainly not a moral.

  The bank is not your friend or relative. It is in the business of loaning money for a profit and part of that business includes taking on the risk of potential default. I do say DO NOT TRUST THE BANK. They will only give you information that serves their needs.

  If you do default the damage to your credit will be severe and will last for several years. Do not listen to anyone that says it will not affect your credit for a long time. Do what is best for your familys future. The bank will be fine.

  Wishing you better times in the future,

  wasastar
• 

  MinisterAmos

  Many seem to confuse "morals" with "ethics".

  It is not "morally" incorrect to stop paying your bank note. It might be "ethically" wrong to break a contract when you have the financial ability to continue paying it, but it would be your "moral" responsibility to your family to provide for them as best as you are able.

  eg. Sell or dump the house at current market, and turn around and buy more house for the same payment or a similar house for less. The who;e idea is not to enrich a Corporate entity, but to provide the best you are able for yourself and your family. Morals V Ethics
• 

  darth frosty

  Have you been paying attention to how cut throat the banks act towards the common man?!?

  WHen the financial meltdown happened I had 2 lines of credit worth over 10G's each. They were paid off faithfully each time I used them. After last year I have gotten a letter from these companies cutting my lines of credit fro 10'g to $300?!?

  Walk away from the debt and call it good. I had a real estate guy tell me back in 07 thats what he was encouraging his clients to do. Just like some of you are extolling I thought 'oh no I cannot walk away from my obligation it would be wrong?!?'

  The only thing wrong is not taking care of your family and doing whats best for them. In most cases the people walking away have already paid for the house and than-some in interest. We need to break free of the slave mindset that most banks and big business holds over the common man. And yeah, I walked away from a house that was worth less than half what I paid for it. AND NO I did not get caught up in the whole re-fi thing, the neighborhood just went to crap!
• 

  The Berean

  Hey ..

  Thanx to all for points of view ... a lotvto take in at once ... please have patience ...

  Berean
• 

  lola28

  You have no idea how much this gets under my skin. You are planning to walk away from a home simply because it’s not worth as much as what you paid for it? Never once do you mention anything about not being able to pay for the home, or having financial hardship. Shame on you. There are so many people who have legitimate reasons for walking away from homes and here you are acting like a brat and walking away from your obligations simply because you can. *shakes head*
• 

  Nathan Natas

  If you walk away from this house, where are you going to live?

  Can you afford to continue paying for the house? If you can, you will eventually own the house. You will have a roof over your head for as long as you can continue to pay the property taxes, which could be the rest of your life.

  If you bought the house as a speculation, then it is easier to see why you might consider it an albatross. Or did you re-fi it several times to fund conspicuous consumption spending sprees that you now have nothing to show for? If so, have you learned anything from your experience?

  How old are you? is it likely that you will live long enough to see the market come back for your house?

  I can't advise you because I am "unqualified." I'm not in the spot you are, never was, and never will be, so what do I know?

  If your are lucky enough to find a good lawyer and humble enough to take his advice, you may do well.
• 

  leec

  Question: if I have, say ... $6000 in the bank, and my monthly mortgage is $2500, and I am unemployed and have no income, can I "afford" to pay that mortgage, and if so, for how long, until I have exactly $0 to my name?