The problem did not stop there. As house prices continue to fall, a new situation emerged: The money the bank got after auctioning the defaulted house was less than the loan the home buyer owed the bank, the home buyer still need to repay the loan. So stopping repayment does not necessarily mean that you are cleaned of the debt. For example, if you paid a down payment of $600,000 and borrowed $2.4 million to buy a house worth $3 million at the time. When the house price falls to $2 million, you stop to repay the loan and give the house to the bank. After the bank auctions the house, you will not only lost your down payment of $600,000, but also owed $400,000 debts to the bank. You still have to repay the debt.
而问题不止如此，因为房价的持续下跌，大家停止还贷把房子给银行之后并不是你就没有债务了，如果银行拍卖房子得到的钱还还不上你欠银行的贷款的话，那么你还是需要接着还钱，简单点说假设你用首付60万，贷款240万买了一套当时价值300万的房子，当房价下跌到这个房子只值200万的时候，你不再还贷把房子给了银行，银行拍卖房子之后，你不仅损失了自己的首付60万，还倒欠银行40万的债务，你还是要接着还钱。