Michigan man still on food stamps despite winning $2M

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I'm getting a bit peeved with the way some are handling the housing crisis too. I'm seeing more and more people do something like liquidate their retirement, buy a foreclosed house for $40K or less (that is twice the size of their current home) and just walk away from the perfectly good house that they CAN afford the payment on, even though they are underwater with their mortgage. They just take the credit rating hit and move on. If you are employed and can afford your mortgage and don't have to move out of your house for any good reason (like re-locating), this is just irresponsible. My next door neighbor is doing it now. She bought her house a few years ago, before the bubble burst so she owes a lot more than it is currently worth. The house directly across the street is in foreclosure so my neighbor's live in boyfriend is buying it and they're going to abandon the current house. First they tried to do a short sale from her to him but the bank didn't go for that.

How are they able to get away with that?

[Mevara]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

How are they able to get away with that?

It is actually more common than you think. I know several people who have done something similarly.

If girlfriend bought house (independently) before bust and boyfriend buys a house now (independently). It is almost like 2 different transactions