Strategic Defaults

Rich Americans: 'Take My Mansion, Please'

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 02.23.2012

Read More: Foreclosure Crisis, Earning Gap, Income Inequality, Pawnshops, Pawn Shops, Wealth Gap, Housing Crisis, Property Values, Collateral, Video, Housing Values, Freddie Mac, Luxury Spending, Default, Foreclosure, Strategic Defaults, Business News

Growing numbers of rich Americans are welcoming the foreclosure crisis into their homes. Default rates for the nation's most expensive properties ...

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Message to Mortgage Banks and the Feds: It's Time to Take the Haircut

Nicholas Carroll | Posted 12.20.2011

Read More: Home Walkaway, Principal Reduction, Mortgage Crisis, Fannie Mae, Mortgage Bankers, Strategic Defaults, Freddie Mac, Business News
Nicholas Carroll

The "moral hazard" is worse than you feared: Americans are figuring out that morality changes as society changes, and that morality no longer includes obediently paying the mortgage

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Pay the Mortgage or Default? It's Becoming a Game of Musical Chairs

Nicholas Carroll | Posted 12.06.2011

Read More: Foreclosure, Strategic Defaults, Mortgage Principal Reduction, Negotiating With Lenders, Business News
Nicholas Carroll

In 2008, walking away from a severely underwater home was the ideal financial choice, in hindsight. In 2012 it may not be.

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The Accelerating Shift in Attitudes Towards Home Walkaways

Nicholas Carroll | Posted 11.22.2011

Read More: Home Walkaway, Strategic Defaults, Great Recession, Debt Default, Housing Market, Housing Crisis, Real Estate, Small Business America, Home Mortgages, Home Mortgage Default, Business News
Nicholas Carroll

There are a still few regions where foreclosure is never discussed beyond the immediate family, but it's less and less often due to the morality issue. This, I believe, is the beginning of the fourth and last wave of home walkaways.

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Rent After Foreclosure? Yes, You Can.

Nicholas Carroll | Posted 07.27.2011

Read More: Bad Credit, FICO Score, Rental Market, Renting, Foreclosure, Strategic Defaults, Credit Rating, Renting Market, Market Renting, Business News
Nicholas Carroll

News frequently portrays inability to rent as one of the gloom-and-doom scenarios awaiting people who have been through a foreclosure. In my surveys around the U.S., I'm not seeing this.

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On Principal Writedowns and Moral Hazard: Do We Want to Put Out the Fire or Not?

Dory Rand | Posted 06.19.2011

Read More: Principal Reduction, Strategic Defaults, Foreclosure Crisis, Foreclosure, Loan Modifications, Robo-Signers, Attorney General, Business News
Dory Rand

We don't condemn bed-smokers to suffer the consequences of their risky behavior because the fire can spread. If we want to stop the spread of strategic defaults, principal writedowns are the most effective option.

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How Men and Women Deal With a Home Walkaway

Nicholas Carroll | Posted 06.04.2011

Read More: Home Walkaway, Financial Survival, Strategic Defaults, Family, Mortgage Crisis, Business News
Nicholas Carroll

A Trulia/Harris survey in 2010 found that 57% of men would consider strategic default, but only 40% of women would. In the real world of mortgage default, where walkaways are far more often for survival than strategy, I found the opposite.

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Shifting the Focus From "Strategic Default" to "Prudent Walkaway"

Nicholas Carroll | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Layoffs, Mortgage Crisis, Foreclosure, Strategic Defaults, Personal Finance, Mortgage Walk Away, Eviction, Business News
Nicholas Carroll

A "strategic default" currently means walking away from an underwater home even though the owner could afford to pay the mortgage. However, this repre...

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What to Learn From Florida's Mortgage Meltdown

Mark Sunshine | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mortgage Crisis, Strategic Defaults, Florida, Subprime Mortgages, American Securitization Forum, Sunshine State, Alt A, Mortgage Market, Foreclosure Benefits, Business News
Mark Sunshine

What is happening in the Sunshine State could spread. And if it does, the financial markets will face another round of intense pressure that could be even tougher to contain than before.

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For Whom the Bell Tolls: Making the Best Choice for Borrowers in a Bad Situation

Roberto G. Quercia | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Financial Security, Hamp, Strategic Defaults, Mortgage Defaults, Retirement, Cramdown, Housing Crisis, Business News
Roberto G. Quercia

Despite efforts by industry and elected officials to discourage it, more and more borrowers may choose to exercise their option to default.

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Shahien Nasiripour

Taxpayer-Owned Fannie Mae Attacks Struggling Homeowners

HuffingtonPost.com | Shahien Nasiripour | Posted 06.23.2010

Read More: Foreclosure Crisis, The Financial Fix, Loan Modifications, Mortgage Modification, Mortgage Walk Away, Financial Crisis, Fannie Mae, Obama Administration, Strategic Defaults, Business News

Taxpayer-owned mortgage giant Fannie Mae is targeting families by going after struggling homeowners who strategically default on their mortgage, the f...

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5 Reasons the U.S. Will "Probably" Default

Eric Schurenberg | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Berkshire Hathaway, Pimco, Johnson & Johnson, Inflation, Default, Strategic Defaults, Jim Grant, Scott Mather, Treasury Bonds, Business News
Eric Schurenberg

The United States will probably default on its debt one day. There, I said it. Did I get your attention?

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Shahien Nasiripour

Watchdog: Obama Foreclosure Program Is Likely To Be A Failure

HuffingtonPost.com | Shahien Nasiripour | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Loan Modification, Mortgage Modifications, Making Home Affordable, Mortgage Walk Away, Mha, Neil Barofsky, Obama Administration, Inspector General, Hamp, Foreclosure Crisis, Home Affordable Modification Program, Financial Crisis, Strategic Defaults, Sigtarp, Ig, Video, Business News

The Obama administration's signature foreclosure-prevention program is likely to be a failure and has not done enough to help struggling homeowners wh...

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'Strategic Defaults' Give Homeowners A Way Out, Even If They Can Afford Payments

Los Angeles Times | Alana Semuels | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mortgage Default, Mortgage, Foreclosure, Economic Crisis, Strategic Defaults, Housing Crisis, Home Foreclosures, Business News

Time was when Americans would do almost anything to hang on to their homes. But that commitment appears to be fraying as more people fall behind on th...

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Shahien Nasiripour

JPMorgan Chase Warns Investors About Underwater Homeowners Walking Away

HuffingtonPost.com | Shahien Nasiripour | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Foreclosure Crisis, The Financial Fix, Mortgage Modification, Making Home Affordable, Mortgage Walk Away, Mortgage Crisis, Underwater Mortgages, Hamp, Loan Modifications, Financial Crisis, Strategic Defaults, Walking-Away-From-Mortgage, Business News

The nation's second-biggest bank is warning investors that underwater homeowners may walk away from their mortgages. In a Monday filing with the Secu...

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Walking Away From Your Mortgage: When It's OK To Move On

wsj.com | BRETT ARENDS | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Economy, Housing Recovery, Mortgage Crisis, Strategic Defaults, Financial Crisis, Housing Crisis, Housing Bubble, Business News

Millions of Americans are now deeply underwater on their mortgage. If you're among them, you need to stop living in a dream world and give serious tho...

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Shahien Nasiripour

Housing Woes To Continue, More Losses Coming

HuffingtonPost.com | Shahien Nasiripour | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Patrick-Newport, Mortgage Walk Away, Ihs-Global-Insight, Jamie Dimon, Home Equity, Mortgage Crisis, Bank Losses, Mortgages, Foreclosure Crisis, Homeownership, First American CoreLogic, JPMorgan Chase, Underwater, Financial Crisis, Housing Crisis, Strategic Defaults, Subprime, Realtytrac, Business News

The nation's second-largest bank expects the number of delinquent home loans to skyrocket over the next year, echoing analysts' expectations of a gloo...

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Mortgage Principal Reduction: Why "Re-Equifying" Borrowers Could Exacerbate The Mortgage Mess

WSJ | James R. Hagerty | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Goldman Sachs, Michael Barr, Mortgage Crisis, Obama Mortgage Crisis, Tom Capasse, Mortgage Principal Reduction, Loan Modifications, Strategic Defaults, Re-Equify, Business News

Many critics of the Obama administration's mortgage loan-modification program say it won't work because it doesn't do enough to address "negative equi...

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Stephen Colbert Takes On The 'Walk Away From Your Mortgage' Movement (VIDEO)

Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mortgage Crisis, Stephen Colbert, Mortgages, Strategic Defaults, Loan Modifications, Colbert Report, Business News

With an increasing number of people walking away from their underwater mortgages, there's much discussion among the chattering classes about so-called...

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Mark Hanson: Millions More At-Risk of Default Than Most Think

Mark Hanson Advisors | Mark Hanson | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Mortgage Crisis, Strategic Defaults, Foreclosure, Subprime Mortgages, Prime Borrowers, Alt-a Loans, Housing Crisis, Business News

How many homeowners are over-levered and at imminent risk of default? This answer is...a lot more than most think, especially those who got a loan fro...

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Walking Away: Questions for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission on Strategic Defaults, Underwater Mortgages and Risky Lending

Ray Brescia | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Foreclosures, Financial Crisis, Foreclosure Crisis, Strategic Defaults, Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Business News
Ray Brescia

Here are some questions the financial crisis commission could ask of failed lenders that generated many of the subprime loans that have performed so poorly.

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Why It's Not Unethical To Desert A Mortgage

The Big Money | Mark Gimein | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: The Big Money, Slate, Mortgage Crisis, Morality, Strategic Defaults, Housing Crisis, Home Foreclosures, Business News

Last month a study from the credit reporting agency Experian and consulting outfit Oliver Wyman estimated that close to a fifth of troubled mortgages ...

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Shahien Nasiripour

If Morgan Stanley Walks Away, Why Shouldn't You? Firm Walks Away From 5 Properties

HuffingtonPost.com | Shahien Nasiripour | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Morgan Stanley, Mortgages, Brent White, Housing, Strategic Defaults, Financial Crisis, Homeowners, Mortgage Defaults, Commercial Real Estate, Business News

To the extent that Morgan Stanley is leading by example, the securities colossus is sending an unlikely message to underwater homeowners: Walk away. ...

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"Strategic Defaults": Mortgage Holders With High Credit Scores Are Leaving Their Homes

latimes.com | Kenneth R. Harney | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Credit Scores, Foreclosures, Mortgages, Strategic Defaults, Real Estate, Mortgage Default, Housing Crisis, Business News

Who is more likely to walk away from a house and a mortgage -- a person with super-prime credit scores or someone with lower scores? Research using...

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