The New York Times is reporting that some homeowners have stopped making mortgage payments in order to recover financially.  They know they either owe more than the real estate is worth or are already behind on their payments, so they opt to stop making monthly payments in order to save what they would’ve paid to get ahead once foreclosed.

A growing number of the people whose homes are in foreclosure are refusing to slink away in shame. They are fashioning a sort of homemade mortgage modification, one that brings their payments all the way down to zero. They use the money they save to get back on their feet or just get by.

This type of modification does not beg for a lender’s permission but is delivered as an ultimatum: Force me out if you can. Any moral qualms are overshadowed by a conviction that the banks created the crisis by snookering homeowners with loans that got them in over their heads.

In judicial foreclosure states, foreclosures are processed through the courts.  The process can take month upon month to work its way through the system.  This is what homeowners are counting on as they take this time to save the money they would have been paying for future deposits or business recovery.

Where are the judicial foreclosure states?

Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

If you live in any other state, it will take a lot less time for the bank to kick you out.