Sorry about that, I will try to be clearer.
I have had to replace the brake cables on the last 2 of 3 manual transmission cars (small cars) due to seizing, and on a minivan (automatic) due to stretching. I've owned several other cars that I won't include because they were fairly old cars (>8 years old) and I didn't have a history with them (and I can't remember the details 
).
My driveway is an incline, so I always use the handbrake on all cars to take the weight off the engine/transmission when parked. I need to pull on the handbrake or else the car will creep forward until the transmission/engine holds the car. The minivan has considerable weight, so the handbrake has to pulled up quite a bit.
It is not adjustable, so eventually it will stretch beyond use, and there is nothing I can do to adjust it other than back up and hit the brakes to get the rear brakes to self adjust slightly.
Of the manual cars, same parking scenario applies. On two of those cars (including the Corolla), the brake cable has seized, so the wheel drags.
Thanks for clearing that up. Now I understand.
Unfortunately, parking on a significant incline does tend to put more wear and tear on the parking brake system and the first thing that shows itself is the cable. If the park brake is actuated heavily, the cable can put a groove in the sheath where it takes a turn. Usually, that groove is on the inside of the curve in the cable sheath. This groove can then build up debris and cause the cable to bind. Also, along with the added stretching of the cable from heavy tension, that groove makes it seems like the cable has stretched even more.
I'm surprised that you did not have some sort of adjustment on it. I've never had a car that didn't have some sort of cable tightening ability. They are generally located at the pull lever or the foot pedal OR under the car just before the cable splits left and right to each wheel. As for the minivan, I think most of those have foot pedals and one tends to be able to put much more force on it than with your hand/arm. I can see where that park brake would get stretched far more than say, a hand brake. Of course, the weight of a minivan will come into play on the incline as well.
The seizing I originally spoke of refers to non-use and all the pivot points in the mechanism can get corroded and sticky. The seizing you describe is from excessive wear and pressure. I guess you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. At least when you do use it, you are adding one more safeguard against having your car roll away. Remember that the "park brake" is also called the "emergency brake". It would be a shame if the system failed at a time when you need it for an emergency.
As an aside, if you've just used your normal service brakes prior to parking and having heated them up, your park brake may fail as the brake parts cool down. This has surprised many car owners who leave their cars in neutral, thinking that their vehicles are held safely by the park brake alone.
