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Because it's their moral obligation. Morality is not a trade, you act morally because it is right Cannoli Send a noteboard - 12/10/2010 08:47:41 PM
I am not trying to argue with just examining the issue. Like I said I don't know the answers the question and I think it is a very complicated issue.
That's a lie people tell themselves and repeat to others to justify wrongdoing.

I could be argued that the people paying loans on home that is worth less than the value of the loan are being harmed.
Then why did they take that loan? There are a very limited number of explanations:
1. They paid more than they should have (not the bank's fault - they are not your parents to say what you should or should not spend your money on) for the house.
2. The house has become devalued since their purchase. Again, not the fault of the lender, unless their actions deliberately devalued the house.
3. The buyer deliberately chose to pay above the value of the house for some other reason that would not be assessed in the value (i.e. convenience to his job or some other locale important to him, particular aspects of interest to him on the property, etc)
In none of these cases can the lender be faulted for unwise decisions made by the buyer/borrower. Their business is to lend money and prudence dictates they determine whether or not their customer is likely to repay, but beyond that it is not their fault. Arguably, they should not be loaning money to criminals who cannot or will not pay them back, but that does not excuse such behavior on the part of the debtors.

A person who defaults on a loan and claims the bank should have known better to lend them the money (which is what you are suggesting with your insinuation about people with too-expensive loans) is no different than Bernie Madoff excusing his actions by claiming that people should not have invested money with him that they can't afford to lose.

Not only that, if the borrower defaults because he claims that his house is not worth the value of the loan, he is defrauding the bank by sticking THEM with a house that does not compensate for their lost money! If he borrows $400,000 and puts up a $250,000 house as collateral, and defaults on the loan after paying back only $100,000 of the principal, the bank is getting gypped by HIS poor choices.

It could also be argued that the banks are fault for the current housing crisis so they were in effect harmed by the unethical behavior of the same organizations they are now being told they must behave in moral manner towards.
What is this gibberish? This is not even a coherent sentence and does not make your point at all. I THINK you are claiming the position I refuted above - that the banks are responsible for all the loss if their clients fail to pay it back, so they should not make the loans in the first place, which is pure crap. You forget that there is constant political pressure to force banks to loan money more easily and to lower income people. Such people are the exact kind who are least able to pay back loans, but when the banks refuse, the media, politicians and community activists scream and shriek about discrimination against poor people or minorities (and never mind that orientals have far more success obtaining loans and credit than occidentals do, even from white lenders! ).

<qutoe>Or to be less wordy, the banks screwed things up now want everyone else to place nice and keep paying.
Prove that it was the banks who screwed things up. On what do you base that statement?
Cannoli
"Sometimes unhinged, sometimes unfair, always entertaining"
- The Crownless

“Tolerance is the virtue of the man without convictions.” GK Chesteron
Deus Vult!
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Is walking away from a mortgage immoral? - 12/10/2010 04:45:43 PM 1478 Views
Just as a contract is a two way street - - 12/10/2010 05:12:09 PM 983 Views
do we have a moral obligation to society? - 12/10/2010 06:00:17 PM 971 Views
It's a good question - 14/10/2010 02:41:21 AM 879 Views
Sort of have to disagree... - 13/10/2010 02:52:07 AM 941 Views
That's not true actually - 14/10/2010 02:35:43 AM 871 Views
Of course it's immoral. - 12/10/2010 05:13:16 PM 941 Views
But does one sided morality work? - 12/10/2010 05:38:56 PM 1066 Views
You asked about the morality of walking away when the borrower still has the ability to pay. - 12/10/2010 07:31:10 PM 864 Views
If banks can not behave in moral manner why should people be expected to behave in moral manner? - 12/10/2010 08:07:56 PM 931 Views
I'm not absolved of my obligations based on the bad behaviors of others. - 12/10/2010 08:25:33 PM 846 Views
but who you owe obligations to is a factor - 12/10/2010 09:03:04 PM 909 Views
Because it's their moral obligation. Morality is not a trade, you act morally because it is right - 12/10/2010 08:47:41 PM 1027 Views
you also use reason and logic to decide where your loyalty rest - 12/10/2010 09:16:51 PM 928 Views
You have not explained how it IS the banks' fault - 15/10/2010 01:30:10 PM 977 Views
That's the only kind of morality there is! What the hell is wrong with you? - 12/10/2010 08:15:55 PM 888 Views
nothing wrong with me but I think you are off your meds again - 12/10/2010 09:34:33 PM 892 Views
Re: nothing wrong with me but I think you are off your meds again - 15/10/2010 02:50:49 PM 1388 Views
well I really can't argue with the wrong is wrong end of story belief system - 15/10/2010 05:40:22 PM 1086 Views
A contract isn't a promise; it's a legal agreement. *NM* - 12/10/2010 06:25:24 PM 442 Views
Which is why contracts have to be pages and pages long and combed over by bloodsucking lawyers. - 12/10/2010 06:39:18 PM 930 Views
I would agree with you if contracts didn't provide for breaking them. - 12/10/2010 07:33:15 PM 778 Views
Hrm. - 12/10/2010 07:35:38 PM 988 Views
It's not immoral to break the marriage contract. - 12/10/2010 08:19:50 PM 1044 Views
I don't see that as the flaw in my logic. - 12/10/2010 08:37:52 PM 953 Views
Re: I don't see that as the flaw in my logic. - 12/10/2010 09:00:00 PM 1034 Views
also - 12/10/2010 09:37:38 PM 895 Views
That makes no sense whatsoever. - 13/10/2010 11:38:06 PM 1016 Views
That must be why they have you sign something called an agreementory note *NM* - 12/10/2010 07:33:32 PM 462 Views
Exactly *NM* - 12/10/2010 07:58:25 PM 430 Views
So, you think bankruptcy laws are immoral? - 13/10/2010 12:18:43 AM 922 Views
I don't think it's immoral at all. The contract usually specifies penalties for breach. - 12/10/2010 05:28:34 PM 1032 Views
I thought the answer might be something like that. *NM* - 12/10/2010 05:35:35 PM 412 Views
that is close to the way I see it - 12/10/2010 05:45:25 PM 872 Views
It's both legal and immoral. - 12/10/2010 06:37:49 PM 957 Views
You didn't mention the third party - 12/10/2010 08:26:56 PM 808 Views
in a way I did since I did mention society - 12/10/2010 08:54:07 PM 948 Views
Thus the edit - 12/10/2010 09:10:53 PM 982 Views
either way I think you made a good point *NM* - 12/10/2010 09:38:58 PM 411 Views
will those neighbors... - 14/10/2010 04:52:26 AM 1096 Views
All depends where you get your morals from, really. - 12/10/2010 08:28:41 PM 941 Views
I guess what i was trying to ask, at least in part - 12/10/2010 09:48:24 PM 933 Views
What if you look at it from the other perspective? - 12/10/2010 09:00:20 PM 956 Views
do you think they would if they had a legal way to do it? - 12/10/2010 10:04:57 PM 933 Views
Good point. *NM* - 12/10/2010 11:10:26 PM 430 Views
Sure, you could do that. - 13/10/2010 01:54:55 AM 964 Views
Much like the concept of morality itself. - 12/10/2010 11:47:23 PM 876 Views
I find this line particularly interesting. - 13/10/2010 12:13:18 AM 904 Views
Dunno. - 13/10/2010 12:56:56 AM 1000 Views
As a professional in financial services - no, it is not. - 13/10/2010 01:44:18 AM 912 Views
but almost nobody sees it that way - 13/10/2010 12:53:25 PM 902 Views
Is the deal that if you default, the bank gets the house and nothing else, though? - 13/10/2010 02:40:48 PM 898 Views
yes but the bank has a limited ability to collect - 13/10/2010 02:47:34 PM 816 Views
I think it's morally wrong to walk away from credit card debt. *NM* - 13/10/2010 09:43:11 PM 419 Views
I'm curious how you reconcile that - 13/10/2010 09:47:59 PM 925 Views
Collateral - 19/10/2010 07:21:14 PM 1425 Views
I agree, what do you think is different? - 13/10/2010 09:59:36 PM 924 Views
I lost sleep over it, but I did it anyway. - 13/10/2010 05:24:19 AM 998 Views
OK what if you take it a step further - 13/10/2010 03:44:30 PM 973 Views
Good question - 14/10/2010 05:13:41 AM 971 Views
I have some questions about this issue. - 13/10/2010 08:14:37 AM 928 Views
how do those questions affect the morality of the situation? - 13/10/2010 03:20:14 PM 871 Views
Obviously, the essential difference is can't pay versus won't pay. - 13/10/2010 02:16:07 PM 882 Views
are you socializing your debt when it is a private bank? - 13/10/2010 03:14:48 PM 954 Views
You are when said bank requires a bailout. And very many of them do. - 13/10/2010 03:22:59 PM 897 Views
it is the home fault that the banks have to be bailed out - 13/10/2010 03:49:37 PM 947 Views
I believe it immoral to do harm. - 13/10/2010 04:38:28 PM 972 Views
I really don't understand a system where this could be an advantage. - 13/10/2010 11:16:57 PM 908 Views
There's generally something like a 7 or 10 year limit on credit reporting here. - 13/10/2010 11:46:58 PM 926 Views
What's the use of suing someone who has no money? *NM* - 13/10/2010 11:48:47 PM 480 Views
You can garnish their wages. - 13/10/2010 11:49:36 PM 910 Views
With parsley? - 13/10/2010 11:51:37 PM 969 Views
No, "someone" most certainly did not, wicked young Miss! Hmph! *NM* - 13/10/2010 11:52:40 PM 466 Views
If they suddenly come into some, you're entitled to it. *NM* - 14/10/2010 12:07:34 AM 545 Views
Bit of a long shot. *NM* - 14/10/2010 12:09:12 AM 409 Views
Very. Best to cover your bases though. *NM* - 14/10/2010 10:04:25 PM 431 Views
Not if the doctrine of election applies. - 14/10/2010 10:14:07 PM 880 Views
Are we not talking about credit companies going after people who owe them money? - 14/10/2010 10:18:47 PM 927 Views
Yeah, I guess we are. - 14/10/2010 10:28:40 PM 961 Views
Re: - 14/10/2010 03:09:18 AM 916 Views
I am currently in that situation... - 14/10/2010 05:03:23 AM 1026 Views
Re: I am currently in that situation... - 14/10/2010 05:49:24 PM 1242 Views
it is easy for me and others to be glib when it is just a theory *NM* - 14/10/2010 08:19:16 PM 419 Views

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