For many people, home equity loans are quite useful. They allow them to make necessary home improvements and increase the value of their homes. Unfortunately, in addition to lenders who are interested in helping you and seeing you succeed, there are lenders who are merely interested in getting at the equity in your home. These lenders will try to appeal to your desperate side in order to pressure you into a home equity loan that you probably do not need.

One of the practices by unscrupulous lenders to get their hands on the equity in your home is called equity stripping. Equity is what remains between your homes market value and what you owe. As you make loan payments, the difference becomes larger, meaning that you keep more money after you sell the home to pay off your mortgage. Even people with lower incomes can have a good amount of equity built up in their homes, if they have been good about making their mortgage payments. These are exactly the kinds of people equity stripping scammers are looking for.

Heres how it works:

You have just enough to pay the bills. You want a little financial padding each month, just to have the breathing room. Enter the lender. The lender says that you can get a loan, and purposely steers you toward one with monthly payments that are probably too high for your income. While you may be approved for the loan based on current income and good credit, chances are the loan is a bit too high. The lender, trying to be helpful reports your income as higher than it is on the application so that you are approved. After a few months, when the loan money is spent, you find that you cannot make your home equity loan payments. The lender forecloses your home, and all of the equity you have built over the years is stripped from you.

No matter how bad things get, it is important to remember that your home is your most valuable asset, putting it on the line with a home equity loan that you cannot afford may result in the loss of your home. Make sure you understand the terms of a home equity loan, and avoid a lender that encourages you to be dishonest on a loan application, just so you can get the loan. Such lenders usually do not have your best interests at heart.