Commitment

I don’t know about you, but to me, commitment is commitment, plain and simple. If I’ve made a commitment of some kind, any kind, I will follow through. I’ve given my word or signed on the proverbial dotted line and I will stick to it.

Now, on the news lately (the Today Show for example) I have seen financial &/or real estate experts actually recommending that people who are upside down or underwater in their current mortgage, go out & buy a cheaper house with presumably a smaller mortgage and walk away from the current house and mortgage.

I have a problem with that. I have a HUGE problem with that. If these people are working and are still capable of making their mortgage payment they should continue to do so. Walking away to buy something cheaper, or bigger or different or whatever, is just wrong to me. They made a commitment! They signed a legal contract! Perhaps it makes sense when you consider the financial side of it. But….does it make moral sense? What are we as a Nation teaching people by recommending this? What are we teaching our children? I’ll tell you what we are teaching them. We are teaching them that when things get hard or when an agreement, contract or commitment no longer works for them, they can just break it. Just walk away.

What has happened to the value of commitment? What has happened to the value of a person’s word? What happened to integrity? What is happening to our Nation's moral compass?

I know that many homes have been “lost” to foreclosure for a variety of reasons, one being loss of income. I truly do feel bad for people in situations that are no fault of their own. But just walking away from a mortgage contract because you no longer like the terms is flat out WRONG!

The house market has ups and downs. We should all know this. I think with the housing boom of the mid to late ’90’s we all got a little spoiled. If you are upside down in your current mortgage and do not absolutely have to sell or move, sit tight, go to work, make your house payment and wait. Wait out the market. If you need or want to sell, well you just might take a loss. Personally, I would rather take a financial loss and keep my integrity and teach my children to do the right thing. If I don’t have my word or my integrity then I have nothing. What do you have?