> Can you imagine if the mortgage was owned by our home, not ourselves. And we could stop paying it without any personal consequences
To a large degree you can just stop paying your mortgage.
The biggest personal consequence is you will be evicted and lose both your place to live and any equity you built up.
The other main consequence is it will show up on your credit report for 7 years. Maybe some specific forms ask "have you ever been foreclosed on" in the future.
This depends entirely on your local laws and the kinds of loans banks offer.
In most places, you can only get recourse mortgages. You will be liable for the rest of the mortgage, if the value of the house drops so much that selling it doesn't cover the remaining debt.
House values dropping a lot is something that happens fairly rarely, but it tends to happen exactly during the times when you are most likely to be unable to pay your mortgage (recessions, industry downturns, etc.)
Even in recourse mortgages, banks tend to write off the remainder owed. Especially since it is cheap for them to offer to forgive the remainder to shorten the eviction process and prevent damage to the home. At least historically
Of course, if it's not your primary home, they don't need you to waive your rights to stay in the property.
To a large degree you can just stop paying your mortgage.
The biggest personal consequence is you will be evicted and lose both your place to live and any equity you built up.
The other main consequence is it will show up on your credit report for 7 years. Maybe some specific forms ask "have you ever been foreclosed on" in the future.