Promotions for cheap loans and easy credit are continuing strong despite a weak mortgage market and a horrible subprime meltdown. The difference is that lenders have moved on from the "Bad credit? No problem!" pitch and onto targeting those who have good credit and plenty of home equity. Since fewer homes are being sold, mortgage firms are now targeting those looking for a refinance. However, these pitches can be riddled with problems...

The typical pitch is that making refinancing a flexible tool that can reduce your bills by lowing interest rates and stretching out payments. The problem is that these low interest rates are often temporary and result in a vastly larger home mortgage to be paid off in the future. In fact, the move prompted The FTC to send warning letters to 200 lenders last month warning them that their ads were considered misleading. The other pitch is for those wishing to turn their home equity into cash. Using your home as an ATM can quickly become a problem when housing values declinem which makes it very difficult in the future to sell or refinance down the road.

And just how bad is it for lenders? Well, Countrywide reported that it made 44% fewer loans last month than it did in September 2006. The largest mortgage provider also had to lay off 12,000 people - or about 20% of its staff. In the end, these companies will likely do what they have to to make profit expectations so customers should continue to be wary.