Living Underwater: What to do when you owe more than your home is worth

What do you do when you owe more on your home than it is worth? This is a huge dilemna weighing heavily on a lot of people in the United States. And there really isn't an easy answer either.

Many people are simply choosing to stop paying their mortgage until they are foreclosed. In that fashion, they continue to live in the home and save money until they are officially kicked out. Unfortunately, taking this approach has two major pitfalls in my opinion: 1) you will leave a huge scar on your credit history, and 2) it just isn't right, and I would absolutely have a tough time doing this if I was actually able to pay the mortgage and stay afloat.

I am a man of my word, and a mortgage is a contract. I plan to uphold my end of the bargain if at all possible. the circumstances are different if somebody is unable to pay. But to purposely let it go would lead to sleepless nights and a lack of pride on my part.

Let's assume you have a 30 year fixed rate mortgage and are five years in, leaving 25 years of payments. I firmly believe that things will recover and you will regain your equity. And you already know what the payments are going to be well into the future, so why should the value even matter? You bought the home, you signed up for the payment, you should stick to it.

Too many people living beyond their means helped create this problem, and these people chose to buy houses they may not have been able to afford. It is unfortunate that the people who are more conservative end up footing the bill on this issue.

On the other hand, there are very legitimate reasons for current struggles, as job losses mount. I have sincere passion for people in this situation and understand why they have to make a choice like this.

In summary of my beliefs, I strongly feel that we sometimes have to struggle financially to keep our word. Similar to a craftsman or builder that gives too low a quote for work. They must stand by the quote and perform the work. I consider adhering to your mortgage in the same way. Not being able to afford payments is one thing, but letting it go when you can afford it is totally different.