June 02, 2015
The NYT apparently thinks this is a common practice. An article discussing a Supreme Court ruling that a second mortgage could not be discharged in a chapter 7 bankruptcy filing even when the homeowner’s first mortgage vastly exceeded the value of the house, told readers:
“a ruling in favor of the homeowners might have made banks and other lenders less willing to extend second mortgages in the future.”
In a foreclosure, a first mortgage must be paid in full before a dollar can be paid on a second mortgage. In the case before the court, the first mortgage was for $183,000, while the home was valued at $98,000. The homeowner therefore argued that the second mortgage was effectively unsecured debt that should be discharged in bankruptcy.
A ruling in favor of the homeowner would only affect banks’ lending behavior if they think there is a substantial probability that a home will fall below the value of a first mortgage. If they do believe this risk to be large enough to affect their lending, then it is probably best for the homeowner and the economy more generally that the second mortgage not be issued.
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