Using the Bad Economy as an Excuse for Irresponsible Behavior.
You hear about it everyday - people walking away from their homes and their mortgages, even before the foreclosure process fully plays out. Someone called in on the Suzy Orman show concerned about a friend who stopped paying her mortgage and instead started going on indulgent shopping sprees. Suzy mentioned that this was more common than we thought. I suspect that some people might be using the bad economy and the foreclosure frenzy as an excuse to indulge in reckless spending behavior.
I mentioned in a previous blog that just because you are in an upside down mortgage, it's no reason to panic and walk away from your home. You have to pay mortgage or rent anyway, so go ahead and keep paying the mortgage and keep your home. I can understand a situation where your payments may have doubled or tripled over the recent years. Still, this is no reason to behave recklessly and use your mortgage payment in a department store or at a car dealership. Speaking to your bank or mortgage broker (or lawyer) is the more responsible thing to do.
I know some people absolutely had no choice, but to leave their homes. I think the important thing is to get back into a home (whether it is by rent or mortgage) before everything shows up on the credit report. That means using the mortgage payments on the new home, not on shopping sprees. Its Christmas time and it is probably tempting to make excuses and indulge in flat screens and other gadgets instead of keeping up with your important payments. Lets get a grip, some people are just getting way out of hand!!
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