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I guess that varies with where you live. In Europe the deal is usually e.g. if you buy a house the safety isn't just the house, it's the house AND the future lifetime income of the buyer. If you manage to buy a house in what turned out to be Detroit and its value goes from $1M to $1k, then the bank might take the house but you will also be paying off that $999k for the rest of your life. Not to mention you'll never get any credit again.

Personal bankruptcy will let you off but not easy. You'll make a plan to live att the poverty line for 5-10 years paying everything you earn to the bank, so they can get maybe 1/3 of their losses, and write off the rest. And after this of course you still won't get a loan again so you'll be a renter without credit cards for the rest of your life.




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