Did he? He kept his job, didn't get drunk or hooked on pain pills, bailed out what sounded like a very uncooperative ex-wife, and all through it kept his house clean and even took care of the neighbor's dog. If anything, I'd say the story comes dangerously close to being a humble brag.
Whatever money difference there was be between him and pretty much any of the others, including the couple who skipped town with pizza on the counter...I'd gladly pay it twice over to have neighbors like this guy.
Probably should have just gone ahead and done that but I didn't want to move.
Being a model citizen or nice neighbour or a bank's best friend is another story.
I've spent hours on the phone trying every way I can to resolve some issue and it too often just comes down to being a jerk. But in so many ways they create the rules of the game.
> I prepared to sell our house. To cover sales commissions and other expenses, we’d have to sell it for more than we’d paid for it
yea, that's not how house prices are set.
Rule of thumb: pay back your grandma, but if the corp lender will screw you if he had a chance, treat him the same. Debt from people really trying to help you out and debt from companies trying to milk you left and right isn't the same.
Should one feel guilty of not paying, if you CC rate goes to 30% for being late a few payments and they do nothing to lower the rate?
Not because you think you have some kind of honour debt to me.
If the best course of action for you is to walk away from our deal, then I encourage you to take it. I would hope you understand me doing the same.
Had he walked away from the property, he’d still have his 401k (protected from creditors by federal law; he could’ve lived in the house for years while it went through foreclosure and put his mortgage payments in his 401k) and if the lender absolutely decided to pursue the deficiency judgment (rare), he could’ve settled for pennies on the dollar or declared bankruptcy and still been hundreds of thousands of dollars ahead.
Just sad. My advice to those who read this: never get emotionally invested. It’s just business. Look at the numbers, and throw out any sense of morality of the debt repayment. That is how the system is built; act like a rational actor within it (losses are built into the mortgage interest rate). Your future self will thank you.