Subordination Agreement

A subordination agreement often comes up when a home has a first and a second mortgage, and the borrower wants to refinance the first mortgage. If you have two mortgages on your home and refinance the first loan, the refinancing lender might require a subordination agreement.

: placement in a lower class, rank, or position : the act or process of subordinating someone or something or the state of being subordinated As a prescriptive text, moreover, the Bible has been interpreted as justifying the subordination of women to men.

But as property values are going up and the demand for refinance isn't as much, it seems that the subordination process has gotten a little easier. Typically, it takes two to three weeks to get the resubordination paperwork through, and it is likely to set you back $200 to $300.

A subordination agreement refers to a legal agreement that prioritizes one debt over another for securing repayments from a borrower. The agreement changes the lien position. A lien is a right allowing one party to possess a property of another party who owns a debt until the debt is dissolved.

A subordination agreement prioritizes collateralized debts, ranking one behind another for purposes of collecting repayment from a debtor in the event of foreclosure or bankruptcy. A second-in-line creditor collects only when and if the priority creditor has been fully paid.

Subordination is the process of ranking home loans (mortgage, HELOC or home equity loan) by order of importance.Through subordination, lenders assign a lien position to these loans. Generally, your mortgage is assigned the first lien position while your HELOC becomes the second lien.

Despite its technical-sounding name, the subordination agreement has one simple purpose. It assigns your new mortgage to first lien position, making it possible to refinance with a home equity loan or line of credit.