Demanding that Homeowners Make Good on Underwater Mortgages Is the Height of Moral Hypocrisy

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David Paul

The Feds, the mortgage bankers, commercial banks and investors in mortgage-backed securities conspired to let people buy homes with little or no money down. One's choice of villains in the saga that ensued is based on where one sits in the political wars. Investment bankers. Mortgage bankers. Standard & Poor's. Barney Frank. Chris Dodd. Frank Raines. Alan Greenspan. Whatever.

But now, faced with a cascading foreclosure problem, homeowners -- a questionable notion for owners of a property with zero equity -- are being told that the moral and ethical thing to do is to stay in their homes, and make good on "their" obligations. After decades of watching Donald Trump walk away from any bad deal, declare bankruptcy, and go back to the same banks for another bite at the apple, American owners of bankrupt -- debt exceeds asset value -- properties are being asked to stay the course, to "do the right thing."

Demanding that Homeowners Make Good on Underwater Mortgages Is the Height of Moral Hypocrisy

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