Bail Out Underwater Mortgages No Way

Bill Spetrino recently wrote:

[I believe] the key aim should be to compensate the people who have suffered the most — the poor homeowner who has paid his mortgage faithfully but cannot sell his home because prices have dropped well below what he owes.

The banks, as part of the settlement, should reduce the principal of all underwater mortgage holders by certain percentage…

Who will be against such a deal? Many homeowners who are not underwater may feel this isn’t fair.But as a country, we need to put this terrible crisis behind us. And I believe there will be tangible benefits to be had.

Instead, I have an idea.. doesn’t the government own a huge number of foreclosed houses? How about a house swap deal instead: anybody who wants to can trade out of their house into another smaller house equal to their current equity. The government gets their fancy big house, and THEN their debt is forgiven.

Here are some specific concerns I have with what I think Bill is proposing:
  • This rewards bad behavior; what are you possibly thinking?  Have you ever trained dogs?
  • I get to keep my tiny pad I responsibly purchased, and they get to keep their monstrous house they should never have purchased?  What are you possibly thinking?
  • When debts are relieved, the IRS calls it a taxable gift. So the “..poor homeowner..” gets to pay taxes on the $80,000 they’re forgiven, right?
  • Have you become so buried inside of financial games that you’ve lost all sense of morality and responsibility?

Update 10 Sep 11

About Brian

Engineer. Aviator. Educator. Scientist.
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