I once walked away from a 1 week time share Condo I owned in Mexico. I walked when my annual maintenance fee reached US$400 … the same value as a rented Condo at that time.
(That fee started at $75. Condo fees are the big scam not mentioned in Condo sales pitches.)
This woman will walk away from her home mortgage. She’s “underwater“.
This is what’s known as a strategic default. She’s giving up her house as a business decision — not because she has to.
…
She isn’t alone. A recent study from Experian-Oliver Wyman found that 17 percent of the mortgage defaults in 2008 were strategic.
Banks and entrepreneurs are trying to find ways to keep underwater owners in their homes. But for many it’s the best financial option.
Rick McCharles 
We are living in a scary time down here. And I believe that it is the fault of many bankers and top execs who got rich off of this scam, known as the housing bubble. They falsely inflated the market by providing mortgages to people who could clearly not afford it. This drove the market to ridiculous levels and then when it burst, we are all left holding these underwater mortgages and seeing our friends who have just moved here, buying bigger and better homes for a fraction of what we owe on ours. It is disgusting to be in this position, but foreclosure is terrifying. It says a lot about this country and its values when I see my neighbor from across the street, lose his house 2 days before Christmas. He and his family, which includes a handicapped child in an electric wheelchair, moved out without our knowledge. The next day we saw the signs up announcing the property now owned by Fannie Mae. This is the same country that pays ball players millions, Tiger Woods can earn multi million dollar endorsements, and knife wielding nut cases like Charlie Sheen can earn $875,000 per episode playing himself on TV. Really a sick society indeed. Bravo USA – so much to be proud of.