Using Equity for Debt Payoffs

Getting a refinance done to pay off consumer debts can be great. There are also some unpleasant surprises that can cost you tens of thousands of dollars if you are not careful.

Refinancing

Borrowers often use a refinance to consolidate debts. This is using the equity in a property to pay off consumer debts such as:

credit cards
car loans
student loans
department store cards
These debts are paid off with proceeds from a refinance. This can be desirable because:

lower overall monthly payments
potential tax deductions of mortgage payments
single payment instead of multiple consumer loan payments
This type of refinance can include both a payoff of debts and cash being given to the borrower. People can often cash out 100% or 125% of the value of their property.

Big Surprises

People can run into unexpected surprises in their refinances.

A very big surprise can be a lender insisting on paying off one of your "debts" that is on your credit report that you don't want to pay off.

These debts may include:

errors that are on your credit report
debts that you have co-signed on
Before you do a refinance you need to make sure that your credit report is accurate. You may need to show a lender proof of payment for a debt that is still erroneously showing up on your credit report.

There is also a big issue of debts that you have co-signed. This can be loans that you have co-signed for child's car or a sibling's mortgage. You may have the "good credit" they need so you co-signed their loan papers. That debt can show up on your credit report.

Lenders often insist on paying off some or all of a person's consumer debts. This can include car loans, student loans, and credit cards.

Lenders can often insist that a debt that you co-signed on, such as your child's car, be paid off. Although you may show the lender that this debt is "not really yours" you are still legally liable for it and a lender may not want this debt hanging over your head after the refinance.

From the lender's point of view they like to see their borrowers have the least amount of other loans hanging over their heads. They would rather have a borrower without too many other outside debts. This increases their chances of being paid properly by a borrower.

Check Your Options

Check with a lender before hand about what types of consumer debts they will insist on being paid off. Some lenders are flexible about this. Many lenders are not.

Lenders often instruct the escrow agents to write the checks directly to the creditors as part of the refinance. In this way a borrower can't use the cash for something else.

If you make a mistake here the lender may end up spending tens of thousands of your money to pay off the loans you co-signed on.