Has anyone used the Walk away plan

Question

Just wondering if anyone has used the walk away website and are they for real or just a scam? Lost job, cant make mortgage payments.

Answer 1

If you try to "walk away," you'll pay income taxes on the balance of the mortgage you walked off from.  And there is no way to "walk away" from the IRS!  They do not give you 20 or 30 years to pay them either.

Get another job.  Get a roommate.  Rent out the property for enough to cover the mortgage, insurance, taxes, and rent a cheap room.  Talk to your bank/lender.  Do something to save your house, your credit.  If you cannot afford a -- say, $200,000 mortgage, you sure can't pay a $100,000 tax bill before April 15th.

Answer 2

I read in Business Week that people are doing this. Look on the web for stories about this approach.

They even do things like buy an affordable foreclosed property, then short sell their original property.

Answer 3

They don't offer anything you can't do on your own.  Oh wait, yes they do, they charge you to do it.  

You can contact your own bank and ask for any of these approaches...  In order of least damage to your credit report to most are:

1.  Short sale.  You get the bank to agree to take less than what is owed and it will satisfy the mortgage in full.  

2.  Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.  Kind of a 'voluntary' foreclosure.  Still about as bad as foreclosure on your credit.

3.  Foreclosure.  Just walk away.  This is the worst one for your credit and you could find yourself liable for some stuff down the road.  

Find out if your mortgage is a recourse or a non-recourse loan.  This is very important.  If it is non-recourse, all they can take from you is the house.  If it is recourse, they are going to come after you for the difference.  

Educate yourself and do this for less money than this loser company would charge you!  

good luck!