After spending years paying your mortgage, it would seem like a devastating thing to just let go of your house. All of your payments would have gone down the drain. But is it really all that bad? For some, it might not be such a bad thing to get out of your mortgage. First of all, when you pay rent, you get a place to live for that month, same thing with a mortgage. Next, what if your house is worth far less than your loan amount? Finally, what if the rates for rent are currently low in your area? But not so fast, a foreclosure looks terrible on your credit report and will stay with you for seven years. So usually one would only recommend to give up on your mortgage only when you can’t afford the payments anymore.