…they lied, cheated and stole, but you ought to take one for the team
I probably ought not blog drowsy, but here goes…
Kevin talks about people doing the “jingle mail”, by mailing the house keys back to their lender and walking away from upside-down mortgages because doing so is in their best interest.
He quotes someone else saying:
“Can you imagine if you had a same or similar home and your mortgage was half the price?” asks Linda.
This is how it works. Bob paid $420,000 for his home. Then he notices the house across the street, with more upgrades, and is selling for $315,000.
So Bob, who has pretty good credit, decides to buy the cheaper house. He can’t afford both, so then he walks away from his original home, letting it fall into foreclosure. That will hurt his credit, but he’s willing to take the hit for a more affordable home.
“Is it wrong to steal when you’re hungry? That’s an issue that a lot of people are trying to figure out right now,” says Linda.
Caoli is sympathetic, but she doesn’t endorse the practice of it. Other real estate agents we talked to were far more critical, calling them cheaters. They say the banks take a huge hit when their homes foreclose, and in the end, we all end up paying the price.
I’m not talking about lying on your mortgage application (a felony). I’m not talking about lenders fudging the numbers so they can make NINJA loans that they know the seller can’t afford (another felony). I’m not talking about committing fraud by repackaging loans to deliberately hide risk. I’m not talking about swapping favors with your significant-other over at Fannie Mae while holding an office of trust as a Federal congress-critter. I’m not talking about allowing corporate personhood-thingys to lobby and successfully remove regulations limiting “leverage”, and then coming hat-in-hand to Congress because you are “too big to fail”. I’m not talking about going from rosy quarterly report made up of lies and fraud to belly-up in three days.
I’m talking about an individual using legal means to make the wisest possible decision that is in their best interest. You think the bank isn’t looking out for their best interest?
Kevin Baker Says :
And I’m talking about people honoring the terms of a contract.
2009-03-09 11:38 PermalinkStandard Mischief Says :
I certainly understand where you are coming from.
And wow, just think of a world with honest ,trustworthy public servants, lenders, bankers, and executives of quasi-government lending institutions.
My contract says that if I don’t pay, they can take the house away, sell it at auction and still charge me the difference plus ruin my credit. I agreed to that.
It also says they can call the note due at any time, for whatever reason, and if I can’t pay, they’ll do all the things outlined above. I agreed to that too.
The word “mortgage” itself means “death pledge”, and I can assure you that if I drop dead tomorrow, They’ll do all the things outlined above unless my heirs pay off the note. I won’t care to much about my lousy credit.
What I don’t remember agreeing to was to do the honorable thing, even if it means financial disaster on my part.
2009-03-09 23:39 Permalink