By John Leland
New York Times
Feb 29, 2008

"Though many states give banks recourse to sue borrowers for their losses, Mr. Case said, in practice it's not often done "It's tough to do recourse," he said. "It's costly, and the amount of people's non housing wealth tends to be pretty slim."

Christian Menegatti, lead analyst at RGE Monitor, said the firm predicted more homeowners would walk away from their homes if prices continued to drop, regardless of their financial circumstances. If home prices drop an additional 10 percent, Mr. Menegatti said, 20 million households will owe more than the value of their homes.

"Will everyone walk out?" he said. "No. But there's been a cultural shift. Buying a house used to be like entering a marriage, a commitment for life. Now, if you see something better, you go back into the dating market."

When homeowners see houses identical to their own selling for much less than they owe, Mr. Menegatti said, "I wouldn't be surprised to see five or six million homeowners walk away."