Not all mortgages are created equal; this seems to be one lesson that we have all learned in the last two years, even if only indirectly. For those who have suffered through an unpaid mortgage and lost a home, the importance of small print need not be further emphasized.

There are few debts that can actually leave a family homeless and this possibility makes it critical that borrowers understand the terms of their mortgage.

A mortgage is just another name for a house-purchasing loan. The home that you are attempting to purchase will be the 'guarantee' for you to borrow the money. The Lender is paying for the house that you have chosen and he (she) is holding it in his possession as insurance until you have paid him back the full price plus agreed interest.

This means, of course that if you do not make the legally agreed payments then the Lender is permitted to take the home as you did not give him the money that he lent you to buy it.

It has not always been the case that Lenders have taken back ownership of a house, there are odd instances where the buyers have moved out and voluntarily given up their home. This may be because they did not put any of their own savings down as a deposit and the price of the house dipped drastically.

For instance, if they borrowed $300,000 to buy a house and the realty market says this house is now worth only $200,000, families have chosen to walk away. This is not advisable as it does adversely affect credit ratings etc.

So on the face of it, a mortgage system seems fair, you think? However, the first thing is that there can often be variables in the mortgage that you may not know about. These may never come to your attention, or you may have skimmed over their importance, but in troubled times they may have dire consequences.

Secondly, any time you are required to lie to get a mortgage (and you can get away with it) a red flag should go up in your mind's eye.

The Financial Services Authority has initiated what they called 'one of the biggest crackdowns in history' after being alerted to systematic loan abuse. They have so far investigated the ethical practices of 345 mortgage firms in the USA. Some have been closed down or fined and some have been asked to produce past records.

Although you will almost certainly deal with one of the thousands of Lenders out there who only want to do honest business, it is still smart to protect yourself by becoming better informed about mortgages.

There are many different types of mortgages but they fall into two main categories: the ones that change and the ones that do not change. Obviously if you choose one that does not change then you probably will feel safer as you will know what your budget will be - so why doesn't this happen?

Well, there is a temptation to choose the changeable one because it starts off at a lower rate of interest and this means you will not be so broke moving into your new home. There are also good reasons why borrowers in certain situations will benefit from one of the variable choices.

Similarities and differences of mortgage types are explained in 'Meandering Thru The Mortgage Maze' - Part 2.