Which Bills Will You Stop Paying First?
While investors are looking for a mortgage crisis, they can’t forget auto loans.
Keep the car, or the house?
Photographer: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
What’s more important: a roof over your head or a car in your driveway? With unemployment rising as the coronavirus shuts down parts of the U.S. economy, the decision made by borrowers as their payments come due will determine how securities backed by auto loans and leases perform.
Families will start to struggle as Covid-19 deepens its grip and job losses rise. Of the $14 trillion of consumer debt, mortgages account for $9 trillion and cars $1.3 trillion; however, more Americans have auto loans. When social distancing becomes the norm, cars seem more likely to fall down the priority list behind payments for homes, Netflix bills, phones and credit cards. With lockdowns spreading, many people aren’t going anywhere right now.