[FireBeyond]

> First: a mortgage is overcollaterized. A bank will take the whole house from you if you default, not just what is due. They are taking your downpayment and effectively keeping control over the property.

Uh, no. They are required by law to sell the property at a balance between timeliness and recovery of owed monies. And they are required to return to the mortgagee funds in excess of what was owed.

[rglullis]

They decide how to sell, the value that is owed and so on. In effect, until the house is not fully paid, the "owner" is anything but.