These costs were a continual drag on profitability.

I agree that these loans will be a drag on the economy, but not a catalyst for a major crisis.

Since topping out at a record 24 million tonnes in 2011, exports have dropped an average of 3 million tonnes a year.For 2015, that means 9 million tonnes that had flowed overseas in 2011 are now searching for a home in the U.S. market.At a time when demand at U.S. mills is drying up, that additional 9 million tonnes is a further drag on domestic ferrous scrap prices.The solution to the malaise that is affecting U.S. scrap exports is a weakened U.S. dollar.

All those are small budget leaks that, if left unaddressed, can add up to a relatively big number that's a significant drag on the finances. 

Because property taxes are rising so fast and creating a drag on prices.I'm not sure what some of the other people on this board are reading.

The main point is I never had a loan on any of them so they weren't a drag on my investing options.

@Scott WagonerRegarding the 1st post I use my iPhone "text to speech" and it garbled a few wordsNow using a headset and talking into it with Dragon text-to-speech!

There are always situations (like yours @Alex Corral) where things drag on FOREVER.  

I figured, better to quickly cut ties than let it drag on.

You've awaken the dragon monster @Brian Burke .