Mortgages increase the risk faced by homeowners. a) Explain how. The mortgage is leverage for the homeowner, and leverage increase risk. b. What happens to the homeowners risk as the down payment on the house rises from 20 percent to 50 percent? With a down payment of 20 percent, the leverage factor is 5. With a down payment of 50 percent, the leverage factor is 2. A down payment of 50 percent reduces the leverage ratio by a factor of ...? relative to a down payment of 20 percent.