<em>The Fishers say they owe more on the mortgage than their home is worth. Part of the reason the couple is now underwater on their home loan is because they wrapped about $230,000 in law school loans into the mortgage, pushing it to around $750,000.
Sheila said they did so in order to reap a greater tax benefit, since the interest amount on the home loan is a tax write-off. </em>
By the article's description of the mortgage(s), not all of the $230,000 is deductible. If they used a home equity line of credit, only $100,000 of the amount of HELOC over the original purchase price is deductible, or in this example, $740,000 would be deductible. If they refinanced the first for the entire $740,000, only the amount of the original purchase price is deductible, or in this example, $640,000.