The last housing boom saw homeowners borrowing trillions of dollars from lenders, and using their own homes as security against these loans. Now with the money depleted, these same borrowers are finding it hard to repay. Some aren’t even willing to.

When it comes to the delinquency rate of loans, home equity loans are ranked at the top of the list, surpassing even credit cards, auto, and personal loans. Even though lenders are trying to recover the money they lent out, borrowers are more likely to file for bankruptcy rather than deal with the lenders. Meaning the collateral backing is disappearing as well.

Homeowners Unlikely to Repay Home Loans

In 2009, lenders had to write off $11.1 billion for home equity loans and $19.9 billion for home lines of credit. This year doesn’t seem to be any different as the combined write-off is around $7.88 billion, so far, in just the first quarter.

Banks seem to think it’s the borrowers fault for trying to get money for free, while the borrowers think the banks are predatory and give loans to anyone they can. Both may be right on some level, but the government keeps bailing out banks at record amounts, so someone is getting something good.