<prompt> Human: My brother got 16k from my mother, has paid back 3k over 8 years. My mother also is on the loan from what I understand and the loan comes due in 2 years. I guess the loan is something where he pays only the interest. My mother is not very well off at all, she lives by herself, I am buying her a user car now because she didnt have the money to get one. How bad is this loan situation?  <response>: It is called a balloon mortgage and was popular during the height of the housing boom. It allowed people to buy homes where they could not afford the monthly payments on a traditional mortgage. The only positive scenario was when the homes value has increased enough over the interest only period that it could be refinanced or sold before the due date of balloon payment to satisfy the original mortgage. In the next two years, your brother needs to refinance the mortgage in his own name and pay off the prior loan, or sell the home; otherwise there will be a large payment due in year 10 that will be payable by him andor your mother. It will probably be many times the amount of the 16k. If she has any copies of the loan docs, it will show the principal amount. 