'Now the New Hotness is saying To Hell With Paying Your Mortgage'

“Old and busted: paying your mortgage. New hotness: living in foreclosure without paying anything:” Cassy Fiano writes at Hot Air:

In today’s loony liberal land, it’s all the lender’s fault. It couldn’t possibly be the homeowner’s fault that they bought a house they couldn’t afford. Right? Maybe not. The couple quoted in this story, Mr. Pemberton and Ms. Reboyras, aren’t exactly blameless in this situation. Just like most people who go into foreclosure, really.

The couple owe $280,000 on the house, where they live with Ms. Reboyras’s two daughters, their two dogs and a very round pet raccoon named Roxanne. The house is worth less than half that amount — which they say would be their starting point in future negotiations with their lender.

“If they took the house from us, that’s all they would end up getting for it anyway,” said Ms. Reboyras, 46.

One reason the house is worth so much less than the debt is because of the real estate crash. But the couple also refinanced at the height of the market, taking out cash to buy a truck they used as a contest prize for their hired animal trappers.

It was a stupid move by their lender, according to Mr. Pemberton. “They went outside their own guidelines on debt to income,” he said. “And when they did, they put themselves in jeopardy.”

So they refinanced their home to buy a new truck — not even a truck that they needed for themselves, but a truck to give away. And yet, this was a stupid move by the lender?! Right. It’s the big bad predatory lender’s fault for not telling poor Mr. Pemberton that he was a big fat idiot.

And by coincidence, I’m sure, Mr. Pemberton and Ms. Reboyras’ lawyer seeks out these kinds of cases and encourages people to not pay their mortgages. This way, you get to live in your house — for free!