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If your mortgage is under water (i.e. the principal is more than the value of the house), you can't sell your house. And a large percentage of American mortgag

• sokoloff 17y ago
  You can't sell it without a writing a [certified] check for the difference or getting the bank to agree to a short sale. True that people in dire financial straits may not be able to do the former, but the latter is not out of the question.
• jerf 17y ago
  Foreclosure is an option. If it's your only option, it sucks, but it is a way to cut costs. Is it expensive in itself, given the damage it does to your credit rating? Well, yes, but that doesn't mean it's not there, or sometimes the best choice. Should you not have ended up in the position where that was the best choice? Well, yes, but if that's where you are, that's where you are. It's important to separate the ideal fact that you shouldn't be in that position from the practical fact that it is indeed an option.