Rich far more lilely to default on mortgages.
July 9th, 2010
It turns out that the rich are different from the rest of us, they are far more likely to default on their mortgage:
Whether it is their residence, a second home or a house bought as an investment, the rich have stopped paying the mortgage at a rate that greatly exceeds the rest of the population.
More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent, according to data compiled for The New York Times by the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic.
By contrast, homeowners with less lavish housing are much more likely to keep writing checks to their lender. About one in 12 mortgages below the million-dollar mark is delinquent….
“The rich are different: they are more ruthless,” said Sam Khater, CoreLogic’s senior economist….
The CoreLogic data suggest that the rich do not seem to have concerns about the civic good uppermost in their mind, especially when it comes to investment and second homes….
“Those with high net worth have other resources to lean on if they get in trouble,” said Mr. Khater, the analyst. “If they’re going delinquent faster than anyone else, that tells me they are doing so willingly….”
The rich and successful often come naturally to this sort of attitude, said Brent T. White, a law professor at the University of Arizona who has studied strategic defaults.
“They may be less susceptible to the shame and fear-mongering used by the government and the mortgage banking industry to keep underwater homeowners from acting in their financial best interest,” Mr. White said.
The ethics of fiscal and social responsibility is another one of those ideas only poor and working people are expected to respect. The rich, and large corporations are more likely to figure out what’s good for them. Too bad it’s the wealthy that have most power.
Entry Filed under: Culture