
Graduated Payment Mortgages
A graduated payment mortgage is a loan where the payment increases each year for a predetermined amount of time (such as 5 or 10 years), then becomes fixed for the remaining duration of the loan.
When interest rates are high, borrowers can use a graduated payment mortgage to increase their chances of qualifying for the loan because the initial payment is less. The downside of opting for a smaller initial payment is that the interest owed increases and the payment shortfall from the initial years of the loan is then added on to the loan, potentially leading to a situation called "negative amortization." Negative amortization occurs when the loan payment for any period is less than the interest charged over that period, increasing the outstanding balance of the loan.