If you are aware of what the laws look like today and you still tempt the fates, it's hard to muster up pity or even understanding.

The problem isn't with the lending, it is with the collecting. It is at the time of (forced) collection that the relationship between debtor and lender is no longer voluntary. This is when the government steps in and evicts the debtor from his home.

The government should stop enforcing these contracts in situations where they are unfair or socially harmful.

Where is the greater obligation? To one's lender or to one's family--who will have their home disrupted when the sheriff evicts you at the lenders behest? To one's lender or one's neighbors--who will lose a friend and will have to deal with moving vans and the chance that the house will be turned into a slummy rental? To one's lenders or one's coworkers--who will have to absorb your work because the loss of your house or car makes it impossible for you to commute?

When the government enforces these debt contracts to the point where a person looses their community, home, and/or livelihood, it is enforcing a contract of slavery. I don't want to live in a society of slaves, even if I manage to maintain my own freedom. I don't support a government that would enforce slavery contracts.

Excellent, and accurate,

Lets think this through. If the government dosen't evict people for not paying their mortgage, there will be a lot fewer people with mortgages. A lot fewer howe owners. Thats bad for society.

There is such a thing as irresponsible lending just as their is irresponsible borrowing. Lenders have very sophisticated and accurate models for predicting the performance of any given loan. They are assisted by the involuntarily collection of data about borrowers by the credit bureaus. Lenders can even model how to profit from a borrower who will ultimately default. That is irresponsible lending and their is no reason why the government should ever assist in collecting on such loans. Right now the current legal system provides no check on this sort of behavior and that is wrong. The old bankruptcy laws provided a slight check on this, but the recent bankruptcy reform laws actually encourage more irresponsible lending and were a step in exactly the wrong direction. It is time that we at least begin to look at ways to reform the laws to encourage more responsible practices by lenders who know a lot more about what they are doing than most borrowers.

When someone else picks up the tab, hopefully without their being fully cognizant of it. In other words big bad companies that lie are a moral evil while governments that quietly backfill those delinquents by impressing those responsibilities on others are fulfilling a moral good. Me? I think I'll work my way economically to the bottom in that world and hope you don't notice when it's your problem to clean up.

One of things that distinguishes corrupt nations from relatively efficient and law abiding nations is the predictability upon which they enforce contract law, credit, bills of lading, and such. In countries that function with very high levels of corruption it's generally because the commercial law sphere doesn't function, creditors really can't rely on getting repaid in full or in time and the value of a contractual agreement tends to rely more on the bribes paid to whatever government official you need to enforce it.

If that's the kind of world you'd prefer to live in you don't have to corrupt this country. I could suggest several countries which already function that way and you might be happier living and doing business there. Go to Foreignpolicy.com and check out the corruption index.

Judging by the dividend increases of major banks in recent years, they have not done too badly extending credit to deadbeats. I guess most people who can't afford to pay off their credit card balances in full each month can still manage to meet their minimum payment requirements, most of the time. At around 30% interest on the unpaid balance, that's an awful lot of interest for the banks, even if some people stop paying. Add in late charges and over limit fees and the numbers start to look pretty good for the banks. I guess all bets are off if we have a depression. But nobody is talking about the big D word yet.

Before you charge that next high definition DVD player or flat screen TV to your credit card, ask yourself if you will be able to pay the credit card bill in full when it arrives. If the answer is no, don't make the purchase. It really is that simple.

If the economy is consumer-driven (as opposed to what -- export-oriented?), and then if you throw capitalist eternal growth on top of that, you have what we see today: people spending more than they make. Surprised? The economy must have buyers...very simple, actually. The credit industry only makes money when interest payments are turned to the "on" position. And since credit today is just so much funny money to begin with, who cares if deadbeats wash up like a red tide? The economy needs as many people in as deep as imaginable, and then a little deeper. So how many people have taken out second mortgages just to buy more stuff to keep their "meaning of life" flotsam above water? Hey, profligate spending is keeping this bogus U.S. economy afloat! More credit, please. Would you like to super-size that loan, sir? ... Ha! Ha! Ha! I laughed when I once heard about the indie film director who maxed out a stack of cards to finance his film. Now millions are imitating this behavior...and the economy wouldn't be the same without them. Sick, eh?

My mom in Seattle just sent me a cut-out newspaper article about a house that looked like the house I used to live in, and that I fixed up and sold.

So here is the point: That HORRID, NASTY house in Seattle cost $315,000 before fix-up! But my much-better-shape-still-fixer-upper in Grand Rapids only cost $72,500.

And mine eventually, recently sold for $135,000. And I made money, even after fix-up. That is between a third and half the cost of the Seattle ghost house, BEFORE fix-up!! Plus, mine was bigger!

Coastal hard-lifers, move to a different part of the USA. We have a first-world versus second-world dynamic now, within our own country, but you can take profit from it. And the cheaper part of the USA is a nicer, prettier place.