Believe it or not, though plenty of Americans across the country are being beat down by dwindling home values, job losses, and other economic challenges, the majority of them still feel that paying their mortgage is the right thing to do. And that’s even when they might even lose their home and be forced to move out.
While not all banks are being as transparent or helpful with such customers, Wells Fargo is taking steps to prevent homeowners from losing their homes and going through forced relocations. In fact, the bank has actually modified more then 650,000 mortgages since 2009. Wells Fargo also publishes its statistics regarding loan modifications on its website each month.
A recent study was conducted and it asked a few questions regarding homeowners’ accountability for their mortgage. Almost 60% of the respondents agreed with the statement that “A contract is a contract and people should be held responsible…” This is pretty good for the housing market, which has had serious up and down moves over the last couple of years.
This comes as a surprise as more and more homeowners seem to be drowning in debt and are seeing their homes sink even further under water. In fact, many homeowners have seen the value of their home move beneath the amount of the mortgage loan but most have not strategically defaulted on their loans. (In other words, these homeowners have not walked away from their mortgages.)
Jon Huser