Articles on Financial Survival
Pay the Mortgage or Default? It's Now a Game of Musical Chairs
First published in the Huffington Post 10/6/2011
In 2008, walking away from a severely underwater home was the ideal financial choice, in hindsight. In 2012 it may not be, because banks are starting to knock down the principal in some cases. This is about the leading trends..
The Accelerating Shift in Attitudes Towards Home Walkaways
First published in the Huffington Post 9/22/2011
There are a still few regions where foreclosure is never discussed beyond the immediate family, but it's less and less often due to the morality issue. This, I believe, is the beginning of the fourth and last wave of home walkaways.
How To Reduce Credit Card Interest to 0% With No Effect On Your Credit Rating
First published in the Huffington Post 7/28/2011
Several of the big banks will now take the initiative after you miss two payments in a row, and offer either a short payoff deal or severely reduced interest rate. You don't have to call them; they send the offer to you.
Credit Rating Ruined for Seven Years? Serial Bankrupters Know Better
First published in the Huffington Post 6/9/2011
The bankster propaganda machine relentlessly grinds out the fear-laden hype: your credit will be "ruined for seven years." Your credit will be "wrecked!" But as Russians say somewhat wearily about economic propaganda, "That was a long time ago ... and it was never true anyway."
Rent After Foreclosure? Yes, You Can.
First published in the Huffington Post 5/27/2011
News frequently portrays inability to rent as one of the gloom-and-doom scenarios awaiting people who have been through a foreclosure. In my surveys around the U.S., I'm not seeing this, because the vast majority of people who have walked away from a mortgage are considered desirable tenants.....
How Men and Women Deal With a Home Walkaway
First published in the Huffington Post 4/4/2011
A Trulia/Harris survey in 2010 found that 57% of men would consider strategic default, but only 40% of women would. In the real world of mortgage default, where walkaways are far more often for survival than strategy, I found the opposite. Here's how it plays out....
Shifting the Focus From "Strategic Default" to "Prudent Walkaway"
First published in the Huffington Post 3/24/2011
A "strategic default" currently means walking away from an underwater home even though the owner could afford to pay the mortgage. However this represents far less than half of walkaways. The vast majority of foreclosures happen to people who cannot afford to pay the mortgage....
Credit Card Max-and-Walk: Consumers Learn How to Game the Banks
First published in the Huffington Post 11/30/2010
After twenty years of helping family and friends work their way out of dire financial straits, I am used to explaining that an unplanned default on credit cards is not a crime, it's only a civil law matter – a breach of contract. People were legally naive.....
The Case For Total Walkaway
Posted: 7/29/2010
Five reasons you might want to walk away from all your debts at once, instead of just the mortgage or the credit cards (or the medical bills.)
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