Do you think it’s ok for troubled homeowners to just walk away?

If you are part of this housing crisis, and you can't afford your house anymore would you walk away?
That's what you get for giving people a house with bad credit, 2% down and a 4% ARM. I don't think the government should bail those people out either

CNN posted a story yesterday: When is it ok to walk away?


Just read the comments. Here are some of the better ones, you got to love the lawyer's comment (last one)

This one is for all of you sheep out there who intend to remain “responsible” and live your little lives hiding behind a minimal mortgage and “safe” investments, retiring one day with no mortgage and just enough to die on.

Opportunity is knocking, answer the door!

I am a landlord with houses and apartments, 100% occupied and getting calls every day now from VERY QUALIFIED renters who no longer have a place to call home. Yes they have income, but are choosing to either wait out the decline or have sent in the chain mail. Yes I do credit and background checks, they are all honest and I verify they have income but horsedung credit. I’ll take the gamble, as long as they show up in their nice SUV bought on equity loans and show me a current pay stub.

Now here is the best part, and you don’t need to stay up late to see this infomercial here it is in plain English. I buy that foreclosed property for 60-70% market value, and rent it back to handsome, hard-working Americans for 200-500/month more than the interest-only payment. Yes I have a day job too, as evidenced by the time stamp here I have the time to do both. How many of these does it take for me to profit INCREDIBLY WELL from this debacle? I’ll tell you I have 23 now and intend to get twice that going over the course of this year, as long as there is chainmail there will be the wolves out here snarfing up the warm carcasses.

To all you sheep, enjoy your early retirement and die with no debt. I’ll see you on the other side, in my Mercedes.

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I laugh at the banks, because of there greed, and now there getting screwed. They have been screwing us for years. Look at a typical mortgage, when do you pay all the interest the first 5 to 7 years of the Mortgage. How long do people typically live in a house before they move, 5 to 7 years….
What comes around goes around, I hope the American oil companies and Car Companies are next! Watch Who killed the Electric car? GM and For were so short sited…Now foreign companies are years ahead of them…while Hydrogen cars are decades away…they’ll be the next bankrupt companies….oh and bail them out with my tax dollars…they can go screw themselves..that’s mine and my communities

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I think every.single. person. who did this is an absolute moron no matter what your situation. Here we are, foolish enough to think working hard still matters, trying to save, work hard, use coupons, never going over what we can afford, not using credit, buying a house we can afford with over $20K down, on a fixed 30 year, then selling it, teaching our son the value of working hard when all along these absolute geniuses have really figured it out - DON”T WORK, just let OTHERS PAY FOR YOUR MESS!!!!

That is the way to go. I dont even have to see these people - I already know them. these are the ones with new cars (never buy used, not good enough), newest technology in cell phones and tvs (never mind that I do not have that stuff bc i cant pay CASH for it )and these people do not even know what cash is (cash, what’s that?)

These are folks who just let others bail them out. these are the types of people who will sue McDonald’s ‘ for making them fat’

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS, AMERICA!!!!

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I walked. Not being proud. My house was appraised at $320k my loan $285. I paid a bit over $5ok in one year when I got behind by 2 months. Most of it not principal obviously, I was 5 days late on a $3500 a month payment and they couldnt guarentee me they wouldnt forclose. I told them why am I trying then. I gave it back after having it on the market for what I owed for almost 2 years. They sold the house the same month I had to leave with my two kids after living there for 10 years. The house sold for $179k…..Why wouldnt they help me when I was willing to pay. Are mortgage companies insured for the appraised value? Do they make out better if there is a forclosure? There has to be a loop hole or why dont they care at all about the customers. Is a former Ameriquest CEO appointed by Bush as an ambassador to the Netherlands or somewhere? Thats what I heard and I cant believe it.

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Okay people. Lets be for real. It’s not the lenders fault at all! At the time they (borrowers) qualified for the loan and EVERYONE was told that if they were in an arm that they needed to refi. before the arm was up. Some people listened and some didn’t, and some lived the American dream of just spending and spending.

As for your home declining in value. well lets take a look at something the houseing industry has called an appreciating asset. Your house ages RIGHT? Many items become out dated like the furnace, plaster walls, old insulation so your home becomes let effcient RIGHT! Now your going to list a home that you bought 10 years ago for $150,000 and you now going to ask $195,000 based on a conservative 3% per year. For what??? It’s all very easy to understand when you look at the facts. The stock market has to make a correction some time… Why wouldn’t the housing market?

Who I really feel sorry for are those first time home buyers that can’t come up with even the down payment because the home prices have become so inflated to match our American egos.

I can’t wait for the day my car appreciates 3% a year.

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I am a bankruptcy lawyer with the top consumer bankruptcy firm in Las Vegas, DeLuca & Associates. If a homeowner cannot afford the mortgage payments and there is negative equity in the property, walking away may be the only logical conclusion. If a homeowner buys a home for $300,000.00 and the property drops to $250,000.00, it may take many years to just get back to even. Traditional appreciation is 3-5 percent. The double digit appreciation in home values seen in 2005 was an anomaly, not likely to be seen again in our lifetimes. Also, when you sell that home you will pay 6% to a real estate agent and $10,000 in closing costs. This means your $250,000 home is really worth $225,000. Finally, you will likely not find a buyer willing to buy you the market value!

Walking away sometimes makes perfect sense.

Anthony J. DeLuca, Esq.
DeLuca & Associates