Paying with one's principles sounds terrible. But, fun aside, there is actually a segment of people for whom this might be pretty bad news, now that i think abo

Paying with one's principles sounds terrible. But, fun aside, there is actually a segment of people for whom this might be pretty bad news, now that i think about it. > 56% of Americans can't cover a $1,000 emergency expense For these folks (56% of the entire country), equity is one of the very few sources of cash if anything happens. If they even have it. Also, for the reckless subset of them, it's also a potential source of bling like iphones or maybe cars they couldn't afford otherwise. Both good and bad will have their life changed once the equity disappears. Note: clearly far from all 56% are homeowners, but googling "house poor" doesn't bring up numbers that are too much better.