If enough people strategically default that could work against the prime directive of keeping home values up and get overturned. Safety in numbers.
This will blow up in their face.
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2010/06/june-14-2010-trickles-floods-and.html
June 14 2010: Apart from the arguments about trickles and floods, such strategic default is very socially divisive, which means it will be easy to generate a mandate to prevent it in the future, whether or not doing so would violate existing contract terms. Those who expect contract terms to remain inviolate are likely to be very disappointed in many instances. Governments don’t ‘fight fair’. When push comes to shove, they are perfectly capable of changing the rules abruptly, and retro-actively if they perceive it to be necessary. After all, we are already witnessing the demise of the rule of law in many obvious ways. The rule of law exists only when the centre agrees to be bound by the same rules as others, and that is less and less the case all the time.
I think it wise to expect margin calls on a grand scale in the months and years to come. I also expect the less civilized methods of dealing with debt to resurface. In fact, they already are
