It’s not hard to believe that the owners of malls might be looking to get out of the mall business. Developing shopping centers may have looked like a solid investment for most of the last 60 years or so, but now owners are calculating that it’s better to let them go into foreclosure than to try keeping them open. [More]
walking away
Maybe Homeowners Wouldn't Strategically Default If Lenders Cooperated
By 2.4.10
There’s an interesting detail at the end of this New York Times article on borrowers who strategically default–that is, they choose to walk away from the home when its value is significantly less than the mortgage balance. It turns out that the homeowner mentioned at the start of the article applied last fall for a loan modification with Bank of America after his income level had dropped, and this was BofA’s response: “The lender came back a few weeks ago with a plan that added more restrictive terms while keeping the payments about the same. ‘That may have been the last straw,’ Mr. Koellmann said.” [More]
Go Ahead, Strategically Default On Your Underwater Mortgage
By 12.2.09
“Homeowners should be walking away in droves. But they aren’t. And it’s not because the financial costs of foreclosure outweigh the benefits. One can have a good credit rating again–meaning above 660–within two years after a foreclosure.” That’s the conclusion reached by a law professor who’s written a paper about strategic default, which is when you elect to walk away from an underwater mortgage because you stand to lose more money trying to keep it than if you cut your losses immediately. The problem is, lots of people think it’s the wrong thing to do, because individuals are supposed to play by different rules than the companies they do business with. [More]
Homeowners With Good Credit Are More Likely To Strategically Default
By 9.25.09
Here’s an interesting discovery about mortgage defaults from the LA Times:
Facing Foreclosure? Buy A Second Home! Wait, What?
By 9.8.08
ABCNews says that more and more people who are facing foreclosure are just buying cheaper homes and then just walking away from their original mortgage. It only works for people who can afford the down payment on a new home and carry both mortgages until they’re in the new home, but for some people whose payments are about to balloon, it’s the most attractive option out there right now.
