Posted 1/25/2010 05:31:00 PM by Douglas

It's kinda sad that this question is even debatable, but some douchebags think it's OK to just let your house go into foreclosure because you just don't feel like paying it anymore.

As many Americans begin to realize that it will be years (if not decades) before their houses are worth what they owe on them, the idea of walking away from your mortgage is going mainstream.

Not surprisingly, the mortgage industry is doing everything it can to prevent this, including telling homeowners that they have a "moral obligation" to pay.

But do they?

Is it okay to walk away from your mortgage for no other reason than it doesn't make financial sense to keep throwing your hard-earned money away?

There's no universal answer here, but in most cases, the answer is "Yes."

Is it OK to just quit your job and go on welfare because you don't feel like working anymore? The answer is "No." The world doesn't work if doucebags don't do what they know they're supposed to do.

But don't let the mortgage industry guilt you into paying from some "moral obligation." You both made a business decision. It turned out to be a bad one. That's why you have a contract.

Of course you don't have a moral obligation to do the right thing. But just because that mentality caused this financial turmoil, it shouldn't make you feel any better by behaving as much of a douchebag. Unless, of course, you're dealing with commercial property where there's real money to be made:

A group led by Tishman Speyer Properties LP is giving up control of the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village apartment complex in Manhattan to creditors, marking the collapse of one of the largest transactions during the U.S. real estate boom.

The decision came after a joint venture headed by Tishman and a unit of BlackRock Inc defaulted this month on $4.4 billion of debt used to finance the purchase of the 11,200-apartment property.

In a statement, the venture said it had "no intention" of filing for bankruptcy.

The venture acquired the complex from MetLife Inc for $5.4 billion in 2006, just as the nation's real estate market was cresting. The property, however, is now valued at perhaps $2 billion or less.

Dammit, if those greedy rent controlled tenants would just leave and let them charge a billion dollars for the apartments, they'd be fine. Greedy bastards.