[worrier]

What would happen to our mortages if banks went bust as they did in the depression? Some people say that they couldn't go bust, that there's checks in place to prevent it, but I think it could happen. This is presuming that you've still got your job and still able to make your payments, in what would obviously be a disasterous financial situation. What happened to people's mortgages in the depression when their bank went bust, those that could still pay?

[rushdy]

Well I don't know myself but I was thinking about this lately.

Lets assume that everythings gone to pot and the banks are in some difficulty. Now it might also become quite difficult to pay our mortgage payments around then too, so suppose we miss a few. Technically, the house is now the banks, but if they never actually evict us, we're squatting.

Well here in the UK we have squatters rights (although it looks like the Land Registration Act in 2002 has changed some of that) meaning that after 10 years of possesion, you can apply (or not depending on the way things are going) to become the owner of the property. This will go ahead if the owner doesn't object with a good reason (originally, after 12 years you DID own the land regardless). So if the banks are bust, and theres noone to care about it any more, you should be able to become the registered owner of the land regardless of whether you have made your payments or not - if you can hang onto it long enough.

It makes you wonder really if its worth trying to squat somewhere better post peak if things get a bit dodgy

[Doly]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rushdy', 'S')o if the banks are bust, and theres noone to care about it any more, you should be able to become the registered owner of the land regardless of whether you have made your payments or not - if you can hang onto it long enough.

[rushdy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Doly', 'I')t's the "hanging onto it long enough" what is a problem. Most squatters never manage it. Of course, if you bought the house originally you may find it easier to hang on for longer, but I wouldn't put my hopes too high.

[Novus]

In medium to long term auto dependent suburbia will be abandoned by society anyway. You will be free to squat in whatever McMansion you want. The fate of most suburban homes is probably to be looted and burned and eventually reverting back to farmland or wilderness.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

Here in Canada we have tenant arbitrators. If you can't afford to pay your rent you can apply to them for extensions on your intent to pay. Lets say for example that the system has crashed and you can't even get welfare to pay your rent, you could conceivably continue to apply for extensions because of excessive circumstance.

In eastern canada there are places where they can't evict you at certain times of the year because of the weather.

I would imagine that at some point it will be like the depression where you have to farm your kids out to relatives, go and live with someone else so that you can all earn a few cents to keep a roof over a lot of peoples heads. you know 5 people to a bed.

that is the way peasants used to live. they used to use the bed in shifts, guess we would have to go back to that if things get really bad.

All paper (mortgages and loans) go back to the central bank. lots of it can actually be called due at any old time, (check your loan documents) you would have to pay someone even if it takes a while to figure out who you are supposed to pay it to.

if the worst crash happens, banks may sell your mortgage to the rich people in your area to pay off the banks debt to these people. then you owe these people and they own you.