Mortgage Got You Down? "Nah--I Just Don't Pay It"

Saw this story in the NYT Tuesday morning and meant to blog it that day--never got around to it. The story is about a people who have just stopped paying their mortgages, counting on the fact that it is more trouble for a bank to evict them than it is worth to the bank to take possession of the property in a down market.

The story is downright disgusting, mostly for the breathtaking shifts of responsibility that are voiced. Here's one: "One reason the house is worth so much less than the debt is because of the real estate crash. But the couple also refinanced at the height of the market, taking out cash to buy a truck they used as a contest prize for their hired animal trappers. It was a stupid move by their lender, according to Mr. Pemberton. “They went outside their own guidelines on debt to income,” he said. “And when they did, they put themselves in jeopardy.”

Ah. I see. It's their fault you are a deadbeat. Precious.

French Muslims Youth Torch Cars In New Year's Weenie Roast

France's Interior Ministry has reported that over one thousand cars were set ablaze across France this past New Year's Eve, in what has become a Gallic tradition of sorts. In all, 1,137 vehicles were torched, just 10 shy of the record of 1,147 set just last year.

As the Reuters story notes, car burnings have become commonplace in the poorer suburbs of France's large cities. I wonder if these poor suburbs might be located near the impoverished neighborhoods where misguided Muslim youth rioted and set fire to scores of cars back in 2005? Naaaaah.

Vive la difference!

Megan McArdle on a New Breed of Deadbeats

Sometime contributor Robert Thorn is a big megan McArdle fan--and I am increasingly becoming one myself. In this little piece, she hits upon one of my favorite themes--the blatantly irresponsible among us making things worse for the hard-working and honorable.

Defaulting on a mortgage must be a painful and horrific thing to go through--at least that's the way I think it should be. So does McArdle. But not so for the turd of a human McArdle cites in her post. Where is the shame? Where is the responsibility?

I have no time for the "upside down" mortgage crowd, those who believe that their monthly payments were predicated on a home valued differently than it currently is--leaving them in a situation in which they owe more than the house can currently be sold for. If you are in a position to HAVE to move--this is certainly a bad spot to be in. But if you're not moving, who cares what your house is worth on that day? You are making a mortgage payment (read: rent to own), you are getting the same "shelter value" that you were when the house was more expensive--so why is being upside down on one's mortgage ANYTHING the rest of us should give a crap about.

Yes, yes, I know--some would say we should care because this crowd has a higher propensity to default, and that of course, isn't good for anyone. I say--they have a higher propensity to default because IT ISN'T PAINFUL ENOUGH to do so. There simply must be more social shame AND financial injury accruing to someone who walks away from a mortgage. The person written about in McArdle's post should wear the Scarlet "D" for Deadbeat.