[frontfor]

You could argue household debt is just another form of rent, where you “rent” capital from the wealthy in exchange for paying interest on a monthly basis. Just because you don’t pay a rent directly named as such doesn’t change the substance of it.

[tshaddox]

It's a very different form of rent though, namely because the mortgage borrower has a lot of collateralized debt and the mortgage borrower owns the appreciation (or depreciation) of the property (proportional to their equity).

[hx8]

I don't think it is proportional to their equity. The borrower owns all appreciation and depreciation.

[kevin_thibedeau]

A home dweller is paying "rent" to the government as property taxes, possibly indirectly through a mortgage.

[ghaff]

Debt, within reason, is just a tool. It provides leverage and it lets you buy things for which you don't have cash-in-hand--houses in particular. It can also encourage overspending (something that car dealers capitalize on) but that's another story.

[hx8]

Exactly my point. Rent and mortgage debt is functionally very similar and total household debt wouldn't capture rent obligations.