Yes, It’s OK to Pay Your Credit Cards and Let Your Mortgage Go

Recent conditions in the financial markets have caused many homeowners to be unable to pay their monthly mortgage bills. They have either lost their jobs, over financed their homes or are simply in over their heads. Many of these homeowners have resorted to paying their credit card bills so that they can have a last line of debt defense after they lose their homes.
Long term joblessness rates are the highest that they have been in the past 40 years. The national unemployment rate is hovering close to 10% according to the Bureau of Labor & Statistics. Many of these individuals who are unemployed or under employed do not have the skills required to stand out in the work force. They also are older and do not have the drive to retrain themselves to be an asset to companies today. Their homes are more likely than not already behind on mortgage payments and they are often much beyond the point of being able to save their home financially.
Something has to give and many consumers are wondering what to pay and what not to pay in order to survive in the future. For many Americans today, it has went from the past of deciding what the moral thing is to do – to now, where everyday is just about survival tactics. Having food on the table and a roof over their heads.
What creditors should you pay and which ones should you tell to screw off?

This decision has to be well thought out. You need to decide if you want to keep your home or not and if you are one of the thousands of homeowners who are deciding to walk away, then now is the time to put pen to paper and see what bills should be paid and which ones you are going to let go. Obviously, if you are strategically defaulting on your home, it will be wise to stop paying your mortgage and start planning your exit..
A homeowner who decides to stop paying his or her credit cards and mortgage as well as any other bills that come in is ruining his or her credit completely. While it may not be a good idea to pay a mortgage bill since you are bailing on your home, it is important to continue paying as many monthly bills as possible to keep some credit and to show good faith.  The more bills that an individual pays the better it looks for them when they apply for home or apartment to rent.
A foreclosure or deed in lieu of foreclosure proceeding can take as many as 250 points off of a credit users credit report. Keeping a credit card current as well as paying down the balance as much as possible will score some positive points on a credit report. A credit score will also reflect bills that are paid on time.
Late mortgage payments that are past due or a foreclosure these days are easier to explain than making no credit payments whatsoever. It is important that users of credit who want to stay in their homes keep paying their mortgage to do whatever they can to try to save their homes. However, if you plan to walk away, not paying their mortgage bill and focusing on their credit cards is a wise idea.