# House worth less than I paid for it? Why, I might just stop paying my loan! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 28, 2010, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649 "2010-10-28T13:01:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 11
**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:** [November 4, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/201 "2010-11-04T21:31:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > This. Whatever happened to “my word is my bond, even if it is to my detriment”? What does signing a mortgage have to do with giving your word? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/202 "2010-11-05T02:37:54Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > This. Whatever happened to “my word is my bond, even if it is to my detriment”? When I sign a contract, I give my word that I will abide by the terms of the contract. I’m not giving my word that I will keep making the payments if not making the payments and taking a penalty is one possibility under the contract. > [@](#): > > Look, if it’s OK because it’s just business, then it is equally OK for the credit card company to tack on 22% interest and a $50 late fee if when you make one payment late. That’s good, because they just did. (Forgot I’d had to pay for something with my backup card, then the fuckers changed the size and shape of their billing envelope so I thought it was one of the numerous other solicitations they send my way. Didn’t open it, did open the next month’s bill, saw the penalty. Such is life.) > [@](#): > > I’ve been on the other side of this - the company screwed me out of thousands of dollars, because there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing personal - it was just business. Exactly. And there’s no reason why you should play nice with them, when they’re going to play “I’m screwing you over, it’s just business” with you. > [@](#): > > Perhaps my perspective is skewed, as the son of a small businessman who had a lot of people who received the services, and then simply decided ‘I’m not going to pay you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.’ I’m trying to figure out just what you learned from this. That your father didn’t ask for enough upfront, basically doing the equivalent of offering the 100% mortgage? “Hey, it’s just business” runs through your post; that seems to imply that, AFAYC, his customers did the sensible thing, and your dad was an idiot for having left himself so exposed. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/203 "2010-11-05T14:16:25Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > What does signing a mortgage have to do with giving your word? Because you are promising to pay back money that you have borrowed. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > that seems to imply that, AFAYC, his customers did the sensible thing, and your dad was an idiot for having left himself so exposed. Only if you consider theft and lying to be sensible. And especially only if you are willing to agree that stealing from, and lying to, **you** is sensible. Regards, Shodan ---
**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:** [November 5, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/204 "2010-11-05T14:21:09Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Because you are promising to pay back money that you have borrowed. That’s not what the mortgage says. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/205 "2010-11-05T14:25:34Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > That’s not what the mortgage says. What!? That’s usually exactly what a promissory note says. (Which everyone signs along with the mortgage, and which collectively get referred to by laymen as a “mortgage”, but which are two separate documents). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/206 "2010-11-05T14:37:03Z")
That’s what a promissory note for an unsecured loan says. The one for a mortgage says, “I promise to pay back this money, or you can keep my security”. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/207 "2010-11-05T14:45:08Z")
No, it doesn’t. Look, I’m on your side in this, I think walking away is prudent and doing the best thing for your family is the highest moral imperative, but there’s no sense making up what it says. My filing cabinet is nearby, so I pulled my own note. Here is the entire first paragraph. "In return for a loan that I have received, I promise to pay U.S. $200,000, plus interest, to the order of Lender. Lender is \. I will make all payments under this Note in the form of cash, check or money order. " That’s it. There’s nothing in the entire note (it’s a short document) that says anything like what you’re suggesting. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/208 "2010-11-05T15:50:48Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Only if you consider theft and lying to be sensible. And especially only if you are willing to agree that stealing from, and lying to, **you** is sensible. Hey, it’s just business. That’s what you said, and who am I to argue with you? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/209 "2010-11-05T17:13:34Z")
> [@TheFifthYear](#): > > No, it doesn’t. Look, I’m on your side in this, I think walking away is prudent and doing the best thing for your family is the highest moral imperative, but there’s no sense making up what it says. > > My filing cabinet is nearby, so I pulled my own note. Here is the entire first paragraph. > "In return for a loan that I have received, I promise to pay U.S. $200,000, plus interest, to the order of Lender. Lender is \. I will make all payments under this Note in the form of cash, check or money order. " > > That’s it. There’s nothing in the entire note (it’s a short document) that says anything like what you’re suggesting. There’s nothing at all in the entire contract that says what happens if you fail to pay what you’ve promised? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/210 "2010-11-05T17:19:16Z")
The “entire contract” is almost certainly made up of multiple documents, but I am still extremely skeptical that there is no such provision in the note itself. ---
**Author:** ![TheFifthYear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@TheFifthYear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheFifthYear)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/211 "2010-11-05T17:32:29Z")
Right, the mortgage (a much longer document than the relatively simple note) is the document that sets out what happens if you default on the note. The note itself simply defines what a default is, and also gives the bank the right to accelerate the note (i.e., make the entire amount due) in the event of a default. But no, other than defining what a “default” is, there is no enforcement provision or other “if you default, then this happens” aspect to the note. The closest thing to what you are describing is a brief reference to a security instrument (i.e., mortgage) that “protects the Note Holder from possible losses that might result if I do not keep the promises that I make in this Note.” Which is really neither here nor there. I was originally responding to **Fear Itself** who was denying that a mortgage contained a promise to pay. My only point was that the promissory note is essentially nothing but a promise to pay. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649/212 "2010-11-05T18:26:00Z")
I’ll take your word for it, because I’m not at home (and frankly, I’m not even sure which dark corner of the filing cabinet our mortgage note is in anyway). Hpwever, you are talking about a legal obligation. **Fear Itself** and **Shodan** appear to be discussing a moral obligation (_dictum meum pactum_). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/house-worth-less-than-i-paid-for-it-why-i-might-just-stop-paying-my-loan/558649.md?page=10)