I’m tempted by the dozen or so offers to refinance my home mortgage that come to me every day via spam. Contrary to all laws of economics, mortgage rates remain remarkably low and heaven knows I could use the cash that comes in train with refinancing. My problem is that I don’t own a house.

But should that keep me from taking advantage of one of these offers? I mean, this is America. Discrimination of any kind is illegal. You can’t discriminate based on a person’s race, creed, gender, disability, age, obesity, or pretty much anything else. So why should I be left out—discriminated against—in the refinancing revolution simply because I’m not a homeowner?

There isn’t a single sentence in any of these refinancing offering—not in any of them—that states clearly and honestly that you have to own a home before taking advantage of these deals. Oh, yes, the deal sponsors are cunning. They don’t want to leave any discriminatory tracks that could come back later and bite them. Indeed, the very fact that this point is so obviously missing tells the discriminating (you’ll forgive the expression) spam recipient that something is amiss.

There are other giveaways as well. Since these refinancing spams invariably come bracketed on my computer by offers to buy cheap prescription drugs without a prescription, and solicitations for horny housewives near crazed at the prospect of meeting me, there are grounds for suspicion. You see a person walking down the street with a drug lord on one side and an arms dealer on the other, it suggests a character type it might be best to avoid. You get a refinancing offer sandwiched between an illegal medical practice and sex for sale, there are also grounds to proceed with caution.

Bad company and discriminatory practices aside, Internet refinancing home deals have a number of serious defects. Their upfront fees are invariably huge. Their low rates tend to be temporary and followed by a balloon payment that could easily cost you your home. And the promoters of these deals are almost always headquartered in states with consumer protection laws so lax that all the knowledgeable locals cross state lines before buying anything but milk and bread.

Thus, even if they lowered the lending bar so low that I qualified for a home loan without owning a home, I would pass it up. I’m always careful to stay very clear of people who are even less scrupulous than myself.