Have you heard of the term “jingle mail?” It’s hipster lingo for someone mailing their house keys back to the bank and walking away from their home. A less amusing term is “ruthless default.”
Calculated Risk has an interesting blog today that consolidates a few articles that cover a rising trend of people abandoning their mortgages and, subsequently, their homes. I saw an article last week that claimed that 10 to 15 million households may walk away from their homes.
But will it really be that bad?
One of the regular contributors at Calculated Risk questions the lack of data used to support these claims.
At what point would you consider walking away from your home?
If you could still afford your mortgage payments and had no real reason to move, but your home was now worth significantly less (say 30%) than what you owed the bank, would you consider walking away?
Do you believe that there is a moral or ethical obligation to repay the bank when you take out a loan? Or is the bank’s ability to be “repaid” by taking back the house enough?