As short-term rates continue to rise, many people are seeking fixed rate debt refinancing before the next rate hike occurs. Refinancing 2nd mortgage loans is also a popular way for people who bought their homes with 80-20 loans to get lowered interest rates on their piggyback home equity loans or for converting a variable rate equity line of credit into a fixed-rate equity loan. Secured debt consolidation is increasing in popularity as a method for lowering monthly payments so people can save money. And, debt consolidation loans are fast becoming the new alternative to bankruptcy. The new laws make it a lot harder and much more expensive to file for bankruptcy. How?

Under the new laws, the court imposes a two-part means test to determine if you can file for chapter 7 or must file under chapter 13, where the courts apply stringent living standards derived by the IRS to derive how much you have available to pay your debts. Then, there are the costs. John Penn, president of the American Bankruptcy Institute and a partner with the law firm Haynes and Boone in Fort Worth, Texas, estimates that legal costs involved in a bankruptcy filing are likely to be twice what lawyers charged under the old law. You have to meet with a credit counselor in the six months prior to applying for bankruptcy, which costs extra money. And before debts are discharged, you must attend money management classes at your expense.

According to Smart Home Equity, fixed rate debt refinancing is a great way to refinance high rate credit cards, especially if you are paying universal default rates on your credit cards. Do you realize that you could be paying 30% or more on your credit card interest rates? You'll never get out of debt if you continue making the minimum payments, so the best way out is to pay off credit card debt through secured debt consolidation.

You certainly wouldn't want to refinance your first mortgage with a bad credit loan because you'd end up paying a lot more interest than what you currently pay. So, consolidating revolving debt with a 2nd mortgage refinance makes sense because you'll be paying lowered interest rates compared with what you're currently paying on your credit cards. And, it’s easy it is to find a mortgage lender that offers secure loans for debt consolidation.

To find a home equity lender that works with non-prime credit, just open your web browser and run a search for terms like 2nd mortgage bad credit, secured debt consolidation, fixed rate consolidation or refinancing 2nd mortgage loans.

Take advantage of current lowered interest rates. Find a debt consolidation lender who can help you lower payments and save money. Special thanks to the team at the Smart Home Equity Loans who assisted our financing magazine with good insight about the mortgage market conditions.