The danger of walking away

Apparently, thirty states—including Virginia—are recourse states. CNN Money has an interesting article about banks pursuing people who have lost their homes. If you walk away from your home, you better be poor:

Sometimes lenders go after borrowers walking away from their homes if they have other assets, according to Florida real estate attorney Larry Tolchinsky.

"Banks are pulling credit reports to see if it's a strategic default," he said. "If you're behind on all your other payments, you're okay. But if you're not, they'll come after you."

And:

What can be scary is that the judgments don't have to be obtained immediately. Lenders or collection agencies may wait until debtors have recovered financially before they swoop in. In Florida, the bank can wait up to five years to file. Once the court grants a judgment, the lender has 20 years there to collect, with interest.

Again, there's a big difference between a strategic defaulter and someone in actual financial trouble. Because they have jobs, decent salaries, and personal savings, strategic defaulters are ideal targets for banks to go after in order to get their money back.