Why refinancing homestead property in Florida to pay off creditors is a very bad idea

In Florida Homestead is exempt from almost all creditors. The only time this is not true would be if you fail to pay your real estate taxes, you fail to pay your income taxes to the IRS, you fail to pay your mortgage or if you have work done on your home and do not pay for that. Creditors such as credit card companies, hospitals etc. cannot place a lien on your homestead property in Florida (assuming it falls withint the definition of exempt homestead) in order to collect payment of the debt. Many times people make a terrible mistake when they refinance their homestead in order to pay off credit cards, and medical bills. By doing this you are putting your home at risk if you are not able to pay the mortgage. You are better off to keep your mortage as low as possible and try to work out another way to pay off the credit card companies.