General Questions concerning 2nd Mortgages

[Joel Fraser]

What determines whether or not the Bank will come after you for a deficiency judgement on a 2nd mortgage? (I know certain states do not allow) From what I understand, a HELOC is a line of credit that is used like a bank account for a period of time. A second mortgage is treated as a first with all funds dispersed at closing. What about an equity loan? Is this just another term for 2nd mortgage, HELOC, or both? Please correct me on these… I have read many of the posts, and some of them state that a 2nd lien holder will release the lien, but not release responsibility to pay. Is this because the loan was not “purchase money”? If there is a difference, how can I tell from the loan documents (2nd, non purchase money with beneficial finance) what kind of loan it is? Is there any way from the loan documents to determine if they would or would not release responsibility