A bad credit mortgage refinancing where the owner intents to use the cash from the home's equity to pay off bills is called a debt consolidation loan. The value of the home being refinanced must have grown so that the home's appraised worth will justify a larger loan. The new loan amount must be high enough that the owner can cover the loan's closing costs and still have enough left over to pay off the credit card debt.

Refinancing a bad credit mortgage under these circumstances may be a good idea if the following two statements are true.

1. The new loan will carry an interest rate two or more percentage points lower than the current loan.

2. The homeowner plans to stay in the house for three or more years.

It is a common financial scenario across households in the Western world. Multiple debts have started to build up: a car loan here, a department store loan there; a bank loan here and several credit cards there. While all may have seemed manageable on the optimistic day you took them out, or spent on them, suddenly you realise that you cannot keep up with the monthly payments. You miss out on a payment or two, and suddenly you have a bad credit record. A few more missed payments and you start to feel the pressure, so start thinking about refinance.

1. First of all, you need to make sure it is really necessary. You should take a long hard look at your outstanding debts. List them out, total the amounts owed, total the monthly payments, and total the amount in arrears. Your cheapest and simplest way out will be to put your current financial house in order without resorting to new, and possibly expensive, borrowing.