You can't just cancel rent and mortgages. You might be able to work it out with banks on Mortgage payments, but you still have taxes to pay. And rent, is often how your landlord survives too. I'm not jobbing my little old grandma I rent from. Now, I may have to talk to her about a temporary reduction in rent, but unless she's getting compensated elsewhere, her losing my rent payment would crush her financially, and she's retired.