^ Lets say you owe $500,000 on a house who's resale value is now $350 - 400K. Would it not be the simplest and cheapest way just to walk away from the place, and leave the Bank to take the loss? So someone who wants to keep their place through the hard times, but need to alter the terms of their mortgage to do so is not necessarily being irresponsible, or even bailed out. The irresponsible thing to do would just be to walk away, and stuff the Bank.