But how are regular folk doing this?
Well, your regular Joe isn’t doing mark to fantasy. He instead is stuck with a bank that pretends that Joe’s house is worth more and won’t negotiate a lower principle or mortgage payment.
Instead regular Joe is giving himself a loan modification by not paying. It is not a one to one analogy. It is more because of the banks not wanting to face the reality of the imploded housing market, regular people who are upside down are doing what they can to make ends meet.