Jose Canseco Makes "Mathematical Decison" to Walk Away from His Mortgage

It seems that the debate over athletes as role models resurfaces at least once or twice a year. When professional athletes make headlines with doping scandals, infidelity, gambling, dog fighting, etc. the nation responds with a hearty chorus of "what about the children?!"

The latest athlete scandal might have us saying "what about the homeowners?!"

Jose Canseco announced this week that he was making a fiscal decision to foreclose on his mansion:

"I do have a judgment on my home and it to me is very strange because it didn’t make financial sense for me to keep paying a mortgage on a home that was basically owned by someone else," he said.

Canseco said the foreclosure was not a difficult issue emotionally. But he sympathized with the millions of other Americans who have already lost or face losing their homes because of soaring interest rates on sub-prime loans.

Celebrity foreclosures aren't anything new. But the tone of this particular announcement does seem to be different and in tune with what is happening in the real estate market across the country. Calling a foreclosure a "mathematical decision" and "not a difficult issue emotionally" doesn't really set the tone desired by the struggling mortgage industry.

Could it be that the national foreclosure trend is hitting celebrities and athletes too? If so, would the stigma of foreclosure start disappearing as celebs are seen turning over the keys? What do you think?

Emily Davidson – A former TransUnion insider and a member of Credit.com's expert team. Emily writes about credit reports, credit cards, loans and personal finance as the CreditBloggers.com editor.