During the height of the housing boom, “80-10-10” loan structures became very popular and caused headaches for mortgage insurance firms that lost business to these arrangements, which dodged the need for traditional MI coverage. As the mortgage and housing markets continued on a downward spiral, a new variant emerged that allowed borrowers to take out a conforming first mortgage for 80 percent of the house value and finance the rest with a 20 percent home equity loan. Both versions went the way of the dinosaur ...