Schoolteacher Shana Richey misses the playroom she decorated with Glamour Girl decals for her daughters. Fireman Jay Fernandez misses the custom putting green he installed in his backyard.
But ever since they quit paying their mortgages and walked away from their homes, they've discovered that giving up on the American dream has its benefits.
Both now live on the 3100 block of Club Rancho Drive in Palmdale, where a terrible housing market lets them rent luxurious homes -- one with a pool for the kids, the other with a golf-course view -- for a fraction of their former monthly payments.
Yup they walked away from $4000+ mortgages and signed up for luxury homes that rent for $2200. They don't pay homeowners insurance, property tax, or upkeep on the homes and they still get to live in a luxury home. This is all at the taxpayers expense as well.
One part of me thinks this is repulsive to walk away from your debts like this. But another part of me thinks this may actually be good for the economy in the long run. I mean these people are taking the savings from the amount they should be paying for a mortgage and spending it instead thus stimulating the economy right now. They also won't be laying on double and triple home equity loans or other nonsense and getting deeper in debt.
They might even be living within their means and might hopefully build up an emergency fund and also fully funding their 401Ks. Or they could be blowing their money on LCD TVs and stupid crap but at least they won't have the ticking time bomb of debt hanging over their head. They are also probably much less likely to buy a home in the future. Which means one less person that is not cut out for home ownership is out of the market.
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