"Rig, you say, "the lender has some recourse against the buyer." Like what? Foreclosing on the house?"


                If the lender has reason to suspect that the buyer is hiding assets--like sending money out of the country--the lender can seek a deficit judgement.
                In addition, once somebody goes through forclosure, now that the bankrupcy laws have been rewritten, that buyer will be an indentured servent for the rest of his/her working life. An illegal alien, of course, won't have to deal with that.