If someone has two mortgages on their house, can they refinance just one of them and leave the other one alone?
Q: If someone has two mortgages on their house, can they refinance just one of them and leave the other one alone?
A: Yes. However, if the loan that the borrower wants to refinance is a first lien, then they will have to get their current second lien lender to subordinate their existing second lien. Whenever a first lien is paid off, all other liens move up a spot in lien position, so the existing second lien becomes a first lien as soon as the existing first lien is paid off and refinanced. No lender will refinance a first lien if the refinanced first lien does not remain in first lien position, so they insist that the existing second lien remain in second lien position. The term for that is subordination, and the existing second lien holder is not required to subordinate their lien if they don't want to. This is why it's often easier to refinance both the existing first and the existing second at the same time.
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