<prompt> Human: So I have a friend lets call him Lamp who bought a house a few years ago, refinanced the appreciation on the house and took out the money, then walked away from the house and the debt. Through this, Lamp gained a good sum of money around 60k and to this day he still claims it was a good investment. Lamp did have to pay some income tax on it but it was a very very low amount since he qualified for some IRS walk-away-from-your-house forgiveness program not sure what its called. I think the bank can still come after him for the money, but Lamp claims that he has gotten away free and clear. He wasnt planning on walking away from the beginning and isnt the fraudulent type to master mind this kind of scheme. My question to all you financially savy people... Is Lamp right in believing that buying the house was a good investment? Does that process even qualify as a good investment?  <response>: Its not an investment - its a get rich quick scheme. He does seem to be ahead from it for now - but he does now have shitty credit. If he really has settled with the bank, than more power to him. Usually the bank will want to see your whole financial picture before settling and will make you sign an affidavit saying that you have not hidden any assets from them. If he did that, and they let him out without repaying any of that 60k... well, good for him.Personally, I think its a shitty thing to do intentionally, and would council any friend against doing such a thing. At the very least, its not an investment strategy worth pursuing. 