If your home has equity—current market value above what you owe—then refinancing after bankruptcy is one way to restructure your debt. The home provides tangible collateral for the lender. If you default on the loan, the lender gets the property.

Refinancing your home is smart because you’ll probably get a lower interest rate than on other types of loans. You can also deduct the mortgage interest from your taxable income.

One downside of refinancing is that by drawing on your home equity, you could end up with no equity left when you want to sell the home. And if the home market declines, you could actually owe more on the home than it’s worth.

You can get a free, no obligation quote on a mortgage refinance at Easy Mortgage Refinancing.