# Can you abandon a mortgage without repercussions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225 "2010-08-05T03:53:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/41 "2010-08-06T19:48:12Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > But, like the **Wombat** says, I would be leery of doing business with a former homeowner who showed the poor judgment of buying that heavily into such an inflated bubble market. What? That’s ridiculous. It’s not like the average homebuyer saw the problems with the bubble. They were being sold mortgages, and sold on the viability of the real estate market, by banks and real estate agents and financial advisers and government economists. During the real estate bubble, there were literally about four or five economists who expressed reservations about mortgage bundling and the sub-prime mortgage boom, and their voices were completely drowned out in a tidal wave of cheerleading. The collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry and the real estate market has seen more Monday-morning quarterbacks than just about anything else in history. Everyone from finance commentators to internet message board “experts” is saying that homeowners should have seen this all along. Where were all these geniuses during the bubble? > [@mlees](#): > > May I speculate? There are many thousands of folks getting home loans. If more folks walked away from a bad home investment like a buisness might, the banks are going to react to the (now) increased risks by changing some of the terms, like higher interest rates, or fewer loan approvals. This hurts other potential borrowers. And yet most financial experts are saying, in fact, that this is what banks should have been doing all along. The author of the article i quoted earlier in the thread says that banks should have paid more attention to the issue of positive equity when making loan decisions, which would have resulted in fewer loans being written. And almost everyone agrees that banks were lending money to people who had no business taking out a mortgage, and who were always going to be little more than one missed paycheck from defaulting. you’re whining about the possibility of “fewer loan approvals,” but fewer loan approvals might have helped avert the collapse in the first place. > [@mlees](#): > > Why should someone suffer from a higher interest rate because other people gambled, and lost, on property values? I realise it happens all the time, but I’m talking about the emotional reasoning that may happen after being forked over on a home loan. But you’re not suffering higher interest rates. While banks _have_ started to make it more difficult to get loans, and are requiring larger deposits and more security, interest rates are as low as they’ve been for years. If you can jump through the somewhat tougher hoops and qualify for a mortgage, you’ll get your money far cheaper than you would have a few years ago. Also, despite your hyperbole, banks can’t just hike interest rates randomly in response to defaults, because interest rates are also subject to a wide variety of external factors, including inflation, unemployment, federal reserve decisions, stock market fluctuations, and competition. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/42 "2010-08-06T19:56:45Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > I’m not saying that breaking a contract is or should be illegal, just that it’s immoral, and a person (or a company, for that matter) shouldn’t do it. But a homeowner isn’t breaking the contract by defaulting and going in to foreclosure. The entire default/foreclosure process was _part of the mortage contract_. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/43 "2010-08-06T20:06:16Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] But you’re not suffering higher interest rates. While banks _have_ started to make it more difficult to get loans, and are requiring larger deposits and more security, interest rates are as low as they’ve been for years. If you can jump through the somewhat tougher hoops and qualify for a mortgage, you’ll get your money far cheaper than you would have a few years ago. [/quote] I am not talking about what experts say banks should do, or even what the reality behind home buying is. I am only speculating on why a segment of the population may feel negatively about the people who walk away from a mortgage when the investment no longer looks attractive. Perception, not facts, drives many peoples opinions. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/44 "2010-08-06T20:16:09Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > > [@mhendo](#): > > > > I simply want to know why it is, in American culture, that the little guy who’s buying a house is faced with moral condemnation when he acts in exactly the same way as the multi-billion dollar investment group that’s buying a housing development or a set of office buildings. > > I’m saying they both deserve moral condemnation. So, you think to keep paying 3X the going rate to a bank who might have sold you a loan you couldn’t afford than to have enough money to give your kids a good life and perhaps send them to college? Remember, you are almost certainly not dealing with the people who sold you the loan, but someone to whom the loan was sold - possibly many people. Perhaps you are visualizing the banker as Jimmy Stewart, which makes it personal. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/45 "2010-08-06T20:22:30Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > But a homeowner isn’t breaking the contract by defaulting and going in to foreclosure. The entire default/foreclosure process was _part of the mortage contract_. As a penalty clause should the borrow default on the mortgage. It’s not an anticipated result when both sides enter into the contract. It’s to give the lender a remedy if the borrower fails to make the payments, as well as to give the borrower an incentive to repay the money. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/46 "2010-08-06T22:41:01Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > So, you think to keep paying 3X the going rate to a bank who might have sold you a loan you couldn’t afford than to have enough money to give your kids a good life and perhaps send them to college? Remember, you are almost certainly not dealing with the people who sold you the loan, but someone to whom the loan was sold - possibly many people. Perhaps you are visualizing the banker as Jimmy Stewart, which makes it personal. First of all, I think you’re misunderstanding me. If you can’t afford to pay back the loan, you can’t afford to pay back the loan. But I think that if you borrow money from someone, you should pay them back. even if the thing you buy with the borrowed money decreases in value after you buy it. You still borrowed the money. And that’s true whether you borrow the money from Jimmy Stewart or HyperGlobalMegaCorp. That’s even true if Jimmy Stewart sells the loan to HyperGlobalMegaCorp. You borrowed the money. You had the use of the money. You derived benefit and enjoyment from the money. Now you need to pay back the money. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/47 "2010-08-06T23:49:31Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > > [@Voyager](#): > > > > So, you think to keep paying 3X the going rate to a bank who might have sold you a loan you couldn’t afford than to have enough money to give your kids a good life and perhaps send them to college? Remember, you are almost certainly not dealing with the people who sold you the loan, but someone to whom the loan was sold - possibly many people. Perhaps you are visualizing the banker as Jimmy Stewart, which makes it personal. > > First of all, I think you’re misunderstanding me. If you can’t afford to pay back the loan, you can’t afford to pay back the loan. But I think that if you borrow money from someone, you should pay them back. even if the thing you buy with the borrowed money decreases in value after you buy it. You still borrowed the money. And that’s true whether you borrow the money from Jimmy Stewart or HyperGlobalMegaCorp. That’s even true if Jimmy Stewart sells the loan to HyperGlobalMegaCorp. You borrowed the money. You had the use of the money. You derived benefit and enjoyment from the money. Now you need to pay back the money. I haven’t noticed anyone in this discussion mention the current labor market; if someone has, I overlooked it. If a person has a good job and good income one day and has had that good job and good income for a period of time, that person might be able to well afford the payments he has agreed to make. If that same person loses his job and his income, what do you suggest he do? Sell his soul to the devil? Hire out as a hitman? What choice do many people in the current economy have but to cut their losses and live the best way they can. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/48 "2010-08-07T05:32:19Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > [I haven’t noticed anyone in this discussion mention the current labor market; if someone has, I overlooked it. If a person has a good job and good income one day and has had that good job and good income for a period of time, that person might be able to well afford the payments he has agreed to make. If that same person loses his job and his income, what do you suggest he do? Sell his soul to the devil? Hire out as a hitman? What choice do many people in the current economy have but to cut their losses and live the best way they can. Like I said, if somebody can’t afford to make the payments, and defaults for that reason, then the person obviously isn’t doing anything wrong, If you can’t make your mortgage payments because you lose your job or lose your income, then I don’t think anyone would feel anything but pity. Likewise, if the bank gives someone a mortgage they obviously can’t afford, or they take advantage of ignorant people, or they hide balloon payments in the mortgage, or do any of the nasty stuff that banks have been doing with the mortgages lately, that’s the banks’ fault. People with mortgages in situations like that aren’t the people I’m talking about. I’m talking about people like the people behind StuyTown/Cooper, or their individual counterpoints; people who CAN afford to repay the mortgages they took out but choose not to anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/49 "2010-08-07T19:29:24Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > If the contract says, “If the owner doesn’t make the payments, the lender may seize the property,” it most certainly is the same as permission to default on the agreement. So you’re saying if I loan you $100 and we sign an agreement saying you’ll pay it back, you can’t renege. But if we add a penalty clause to try to put teeth into it, that’s tantamount to giving you permission to renege? I strongly disagree. The mortgage agreement says they can take the house back _if you default on the loan._ Defaulting is breaking the agreement. > [@mhendo](#): > > Again, you have th arrangement wrong. He might have “walked away from” the house, but he didn’t “walk away from” the agreement. He honored the agreement by handing over the house, exactly as stipulated in the contract. You’re still not getting my point. _He defaulted on the loan_ (i.e., broke the agreement). Once he did that, the penalties kicked in and the bank took his house away. > [@Voyager](#): > > There is a name for the fallacy that you haven’t lost money until you sell, and it explains why so many people ride the market down long past the point where a good investor would have taken losses and gotten out. It’s not a fallacy. If I have $500,000, and I spend $300,000 on a house (or a painting, or stock, or a prize bull…), I have $200,000 left. If you want to declare my investment only worth $100,000, that’s fine. _I haven’t lost any money until I sell it_. It’s only a potential loss. Someone could still walk in tomorrow and offer double (or half) what you said it was worth. If I accept that offer, that’s when I’ve made or lost money (well, after all applicable fees and taxes are paid). > [@lazybratsche](#): > > But a homeowner isn’t breaking the contract by defaulting and going in to foreclosure. The entire default/foreclosure process was _part of the mortage contract_. You should look up what “default” means. It means _he failed to live up to the terms of the contract_. The bank taking the house back is a remedy for someone who doesn’t honor his word. > [@](#): > > [de·fault](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/default) > > 1. failure to do something required by duty or law > [@](#): > > [de·fault](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/default) > > 1. Failure to perform a task or fulfill an obligation, especially failure to meet a financial obligation > [@](#): > > [de·fault](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/default) > > 1. The failure to promptly pay interest or principal when due. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/50 "2010-08-07T19:35:15Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:49, topic:549225”] You’re still not getting my point. _He defaulted on the loan_ (i.e., broke the agreement). Once he did that, the penalties kicked in and the bank took his house away. [/QUOTE] You say potato, i say pot-ah-to. You say he broke the agreement and the bank took his house away. I say he handed his house over to the bank rather than continue to make the payments. Whichever one you feel is more a more appropriate description, the fact is that his mortgage contract allows for precisely such an outcome, and as a party to that contract he can choose to take such a route. You’re welcome to persist in your moral outrage; i simply don’t share it. The bank accepted the house as collateral for the loan. If the house ended up being worth less than the loan, that’s tough. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/51 "2010-10-08T04:06:03Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > As White notes in the article i summarized above, the biggest problem with all this, on a national level, is that homeowners are held to higher moral standards than corporations. They are constantly berated by banks, by politicians, and by bureaucrats for doing exactly what businesses do every day: cutting their losses and starting over. > > Check out [this article](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/25/dont-look-back-major-play_n_435965.html) from January this year: > > > [@](#): > > > > Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson once said: “And let me emphasize, any homeowner who can afford his mortgage payment but chooses to walk away from an underwater property is simply a speculator - and one who is not honoring his obligations.” > > and > > > [@](#): > > > > The head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, John Courson, played up the moral argument against walking away, telling the Wall Street Journal last month: “What about the message they will send to their family and their kids and their friends?” And the irony is that the Mortgage Bankers Association skipped out[on the $79 million loan](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704829704575049111428912890.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection) on their Washington, DC headquarters, less than two months after Courson berated homeowners who walked away from their mortgages. Bankers who default on glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/52 "2010-10-08T04:55:46Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > And the irony is that the Mortgage Bankers Association skipped out[on the $79 million loan](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704829704575049111428912890.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection) on their Washington, DC headquarters, less than two months after Courson berated homeowners who walked away from their mortgages. > > Bankers who default on glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Thanks for the link. I hadn’t seen that before. The hubris of these assholes is astounding. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/53 "2010-10-08T05:07:05Z")
Actually, after investigating a bit further, i’m not exactly sure that the MBA did, in fact, abandon its loan. According to [this story](http://www.realestatechannel.com/featured-columnists/real-estate-news-deal-of-the-week-mortgage-bankers-association-costar-group-headquarters-building-tishman-speyer-properties-washington-post-pnc-financial-services-group-dri-2015.php): > [@](#): > > The MBA plans to use the $41.5 million sale proceeds to pay down its $75 million acquisition loan from PNC Financial Services Group Inc. If that is correct, then the MBA is still paying off over $30 million on a building it no longer owns. Of course, all companies involved have declined to comment, so it’s not clear whether the MBA were able to negotiate their loan agreement or receive some other accommodation as part of this deal. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/54 "2010-10-08T13:59:11Z")
The Daily Show had a hilarious bit about this last night: > **[The Daily Show with Trevor Noah | Comedy Central](https://www.cc.com/shows/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah)** > > The Daily Show is an Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning program that looks at the day’s top headlines through a sharp, reality-based lens. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/55 "2010-10-08T14:29:48Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Actually, after investigating a bit further, i’m not exactly sure that the MBA did, in fact, abandon its loan. According to [this story](http://www.realestatechannel.com/featured-columnists/real-estate-news-deal-of-the-week-mortgage-bankers-association-costar-group-headquarters-building-tishman-speyer-properties-washington-post-pnc-financial-services-group-dri-2015.php): > > > [@](#): > > > > The MBA plans to use the $41.5 million sale proceeds to pay down its $75 million acquisition loan from PNC Financial Services Group Inc. > > If that is correct, then the MBA is still paying off over $30 million on a building it no longer owns. Unlikely. In my cite, the MBA explained their decision to sell the building at a loss: > [@](#): > > At that time, the MBA said that continued ownership of the building, which was financed with $75 million of variable-rate debt, would be “economically imprudent.” Why would they continue to pay on a mortgage they deemed “economically imprudent?” Selling at a loss then paying off the balance gains them nothing, and would be no less “imprudent”, so why would they sacrifice $38 million for no reason? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/56 "2010-10-08T16:31:43Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Why would they continue to pay on a mortgage they deemed “economically imprudent?” Selling at a loss then paying off the balance gains them nothing, and would be no less “imprudent”, so why would they sacrifice $38 million for no reason? The only possible reason would be to deal with the minor problem that it is tough to take the moral high ground about walking away from mortgages when you’ve walked away from yours. If this is worth $38 million is doubtful, but maybe they will pay until the story goes away. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/57 "2010-10-08T16:36:22Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Why would they continue to pay on a mortgage they deemed “economically imprudent?” Selling at a loss then paying off the balance gains them nothing, and would be no less “imprudent”, so why would they sacrifice $38 million for no reason? You’re probably right, although as **Voyager** notes, they have some PR incentive to at least appear as if they’re paying off the whole thing until the scrutiny dies down. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/58 "2010-10-08T16:52:43Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > The Daily Show had a hilarious bit about this last night: > > [Comedy Central The Daily Show Fan Page](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-october-7-2010/mortgage-bankers-association-strategic-default) Excellent. Wyatt Cenac is great. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/59 "2010-10-08T17:15:01Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > > [@joebuck20](#): > > > > The Daily Show had a hilarious bit about this last night: > > > > [Comedy Central The Daily Show Fan Page](http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-october-7-2010/mortgage-bankers-association-strategic-default) > > Excellent. Wyatt Cenac is great. I loved when he said to the Nevada MBA guy, “Sucks to find out your dad’s a deadbeat, huh?” ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225/60 "2010-10-08T17:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=Gary “Wombat” Robson;12771667A person found a house he liked and wanted to live in. He worked out a monthly payment that he could live with. An appraiser gave the house a lower value. It’s still the same house. It’s still the same payments. It’ll still be paid off at the same time. _He hasn’t lost any money_. But he chose to default on the loan and accept the penalties.[/QUOTE] Often it’s not the same payment. Back in those days (just a few years ago) many/most mortgages were a 5 year Fixed with ARM after. Thus, the buyer went in with a reasonable payment. However, when his house went underwater, his rate jumped drastically, thus he couldn’t pay. I had this happen to a friend of mine, his payment more than doubled- and his 5year wasn’t a “teaser” either, it was just about what you can get now. Those types of mortgages were common and often suggested by trusted financial experts. So, it’s not _the same payments_. OTOH another friend bought a house in a area called Mountain House which is famous for being underwater. He got a reasonable 30 year fixed. Now, he’s also hwaaaay underwater but he still has the same payments. Of course, he can’t re-fi now, thus he can’t get the new lower rates. So, it’s not ideal, but he can live with it. Yes, poor credit can make employers pass you over in inital hiring, but it takes hwaaaaay more than a foreclosed mortgage in today’s economy to get fired over it. Even back a couple decades, you would not lose your security clearance over a Bankruptcy, as you had legally settled your debts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-abandon-a-mortgage-without-repercussions/549225.md?page=4)