Strategic defaults on homes on the rise
Jose and Anna Tolentino moved into their Novato condo in August 2005, two days before Jose, a Navy reservist, shipped out to Kuwait.
"I was happy to have my wife in such a nice place while I was away," he said.
But now, with the condo worth about half the $425,000 they paid, his attitude has changed.
"I don't want to keep on paying when the house will never go back up to its value," he said. "It's better to cut our losses, get out of there and go rent.
"The number of people similarly choosing to cut their losses on their homes continues to rise. Studies estimate about one-quarter of all defaults are voluntary "walkaways," also known as strategic defaults and jingle mail for the sound the abandoned keys make in a mailbox.
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