Detroit councilman walks away from mortgage Candidate for mayor saw value of home tumble as payment

[Dr.Phool]

Source: AP-MSNBC

updated 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

Detroit councilman walks away from mortgage
Candidate for mayor saw value of home tumble as payment set to rise


DETROIT - It was their dream home, a two-story, four-bedroom colonial in one of Detroit's nicest and most stable neighborhoods.

But then, one day in December, City Councilman Kwame Kenyatta and his wife packed up their belongings, locked the doors, mailed in the keys and walked away — adding another vacant house to the thousands in a city hard hit by the nation's mortgage crisis.

"We're already underwater when it comes to what we're paying on the house versus what the house is worth," Kenyatta said.

Around the country, the practice, sometimes referred to as "mortgage walking" or "jingle mail," appears to be growing. But for Kenyatta, the decision could do more than hurt his credit rating.

It could damage his bid for mayor of Detroit this summer, particularly since he has been one of the city's most vocal supporters of measures to improve neighborhoods and clean up blight.

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Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30311735/