There is a very simple explanation for this. A few mortgages are of the “callable” type, which means that the lender can ask you to repay the full amount at virtually any time, or under certain conditions, whatever the contract stipulates.

Such callable mortgages are rare, that’s why most of us haven’t heard of them. However, in recent years, some of these products may have been pushed to less sophisticated borrowers. Like prepayment penalties, balloon payments, etc., callable mortgages may yield fatter commissions to the loan agents.