A reverse mortgage is more debt and one of the most expensive forms of credit you can get.

They are very complicated and hard to understand.  Know these risks and dangers of reverse mortgages:

Say your parent gets a reverse mortgage and a few years go by. What happens when they have to move out of the home into assisted living or a nursing home?  The mortgage becomes due. Now, there is the expense of paying it off, besides the high cost of the assisted living or nursing home care.  It can leave an elder homeless.

If the elder who happens to need care in a facility has non-borrowing family members in that home, the loan is still due.  Anyone left in the home must move out, go to a care facility or be taken in by someone else. That can include a non-borrowing spouse, child or grandchild. They are “tenants” according the the rules of reverse mortgages and they have to leave the home when the elder goes.

If an elder with a reverse mortgage fails to pay property taxes, to keep up insurance on the home, or fails to maintain the home, he is in default.  The lender can then foreclose.  Lenders are in a good position to purchase such properties cheaply and then flip them for a good profit.  Elders who are low on cash may fail to pay home insurance premiums or property taxes.  If they are getting forgetful, they might not maintain their properties.

The entire principal, plus accrued interest and service fees must be paid in full to the lender before the heirs can rightfully take possession of the home. This debt may exceed the actual market value of the home. If they can’t pay the debt, the lender has the right to foreclose and sell the property.  Low wealth heirs are not likely to be able to pay the debt and those homes fall into foreclosure. Goodbye inheritance.

There are seemingly irrational formulas used to calculate how much a borrower can get on a reverse mortgage.  If an elder lives into one’s 90’s, becoming more common these days, there is a risk that the amount loaned will not be enough to sustain the elder who needs long term care at home.  The elder can run out of money to make the loan payments, go into default and end up homeless and impoverished. This is a real risk, particularly for anyone who thinks it’s a dandy idea to take out a reverse mortgage to pay for home care providers.  If the elder borrows, say, $200,000, and ends up needing care 24/7, that reverse mortgage cash she got will be exhausted in about two years or less.  Then what?  Default, foreclosure and Medicaid paid nursing home.

According to Norma Paz Garcia, Senior Attorney for Consumer’s Union of the United States, there is no suitability standard for reverse mortgages for seniors and we need better standards.  She warns that all seniors need viable and truthful counseling to warn of the negative consequences and potential harm of reverse mortgage products.  She urges borrowers to consider any other possible alternatives to raising cash such as a forward mortgage equity line, inter-family loans, local government loans or public benefits.

So what’s the bottom line?  Consider a reverse mortgage an option of last resort. If you or your aging parent thinks it’s a good idea, get advice from a competent financial planner and elder law attorney before doing anything.  Recognize that your aging loved one might not be in perfect health to the end of her days and that care at  home might cost more than a reverse mortgage could cover, especially over a period of years.  There just might be less costly, better ways to borrow when elders need it.

Until next time,

Carolyn Rosenblatt

http://www.agingparentsseminars.com/