From "Mortgage cops taking tough stance: Office of Inspector General on the prowl for strategic defaulters" (Chicago Tribune, September 13):
Investigators are searching not only for lenders who have sold materially deficient loans to Fannie and Freddie, but also individuals, including those who reneged on their promises to repay their mortgages. So if you are a "strategic defaulter" who decided it was better to walk away from your obligation than to keep paying for a house that was worth substantially less than you owed, it's time to start looking over your shoulder.
No one knows for certain how many borrowers fit the rather amorphous strategic defaulter mold. But credit repository Experian estimates that 20 percent of all foreclosures are the result of walkaways, people who could afford to make their payments but who decided not to.
These are not just borrowers who made a personal, strategic financial decision not to pay. In some cases, they remained in their houses for months or even years, living free on the government's dime — and yours and mine — before moving on. In other instances, they profited handsomely by renting their properties to unsuspecting tenants, collecting rent for many months but never paying lenders.
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