Should I Stop Paying My Mortgage?

Close to five million homes in the US are worth less than 75% of what is owed on them.
What if you live in one of them?
You owe $200,000, your home is worth less than $150,000?
Over half a million Americans have walked away, or taken the “jingle mail” option, mail the bank your keys.

I believe, if you can afford the payments, you keep your obligation. You signed a contract to pay the money back.

I do not think anyone whose home value went up went back to the mortgage company five years later and gave them more money.

Most of the homes in Michigan with a mortgage are worth less than what is owed on them.

Hey, I am no fan of the banks, as readers of this blog are well aware.

It is tough, when the house next door is for sale for half of what you paid for your house.

If you bought in 2005-2007, at the peak, chances are, your home value is down big time.

By all means, ask the mortgage company for a break; you have nothing to lose.

But, realize they have hundreds of thousands of homeowners in default, who cannot afford payments that went up, or payments that stayed the same, but their income went down.

Those people are going to get their attention, such as it is, first.

As always, keep track of your finances, have an up to date budget of income and living expenses.

Things may change in the future, if you have two, or more, mortgages, you may be able to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and strip off that second mortgage.