History Of Home Equity Loans

Learn about the history of home equity loans before you get one.  Home equity loans were known until recently as second mortgages.  They were considered to be a last resort for borrowing money, and one to be avoided.  But home equity loans have become a popular and widely accepted form of borrowing, owing largely to some smart ad campaigns run by various banking companies.

The history of home equity loans goes back at least to the early 1980s.  Since then the value of outstanding home equity loans has exploded, and almost 25\% of Americans with a first mortgage has a home equity loan.