Are you a fancy person? Then you have a 1 in 7 chance of defaulting on your mortgage, says a new study of data compiled for the New York Times. Those of you with mortgages of less than a million dollars only have a 1 in 12 chance of defaulting, the paper says.

Why is this happening? The data suggests that rich people are more likely to just dump a house like the poorly performing investment it is.

Though it is hard to prove, the CoreLogic data suggest that many of the well-to-do are purposely dumping their financially draining properties, just as they would any sour investment.

“The rich are different: they are more ruthless,” said Sam Khater, CoreLogic’s senior economist.

Meanwhile, in Cook County, IL, the sheriff says he’s going to richy-rich houses in Wilmette, La Grange and Glencoe to throw people out — and they’re already gone.

The occupants are always gone by the time a deputy gets there, a spokesman said, but just barely.

Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich [NYT]

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