Should You Walk Away From Your Mortgage?

Most consumers say it's unacceptable for homeowners to stop making their mortgage payments and abandon their homes, according to a Pew Research Center survey reported by Trey Robertson with Nortex Mortgage.

More than a third (36%) say the practice of walking away from a home mortgage is acceptable, at least under certain circumstances. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) believe it is wrong for homeowners to deliberately stop paying their mortgages and surrender their homes to the mortgage lender, according to the survey. But two-in-ten (19%) say it's acceptable and an additional 17% volunteer that it depends on the circumstances.

What do you think? Or what would you do if you were upside down in your mortgage and lost your job? Under what circumstances would it be alright to walk away from your contract commitment to repay the loan that you signed when you bought your home?

Do you know the consequences of walking away from a mortgage? How long it will be on your credit? How long before you could purchase again? Will the mortgage company come after you and sue you? Can they do that?

Good questions and would be happy to answer any of them if we can. The trouble is when we hear of owners living in their houses "free" for many months, even over a year without paying a payment before the Bank foreclosures, it does anger us that scrap and tighten up our belts in order to be current on our mortgages and we may be hurting also.