New Study Suggests More Than 25% of Mortgage Defaults Are Strategic!

Current housing policy is attempting to address the needs of home owners facing a cash crunch. Not being addressed however are the homeowners who now are 40 – 60% underwater with their existing mortgages. These homeowners may be able to afford the payment but some are making an economic decision not to. Many have not made a payment for 16 months and have not heard from their lender! Think of the discretionary income! No wonder restaurants and stores still have customers. Consider what will happen once these folks are forced to pay some type of housing expense each month. Could be bad for the local economy. If they decide to do a short sale they may be able to buy again in 2 years. Walk away from 100k -300k in mortgage debt now and still be able to capitalize on the housing turnaround. Great idea from a purely economic standpoint!