Reverse Mortgage Scams
Case Histories, Common Myths August 6th, 2009Enough Already !!!
I’m getting really tired of the constant stream of negativity that seems to dominate media coverage of reverse mortgages. Enough! Reverse mortgages are not sub-prime loans. And loan originators in the reverse mortgage business are not predators springloaded and ready to swindle everyone they meet. Publicity hungry “experts” and politicians (are you listening, Senator McCaskill D-MO) wrongly dump sub-prime loans and reverse mortgages into the same bucket. The press perpetuates the myth and repeats horror stories. Now we hear about the “inevitable next financial implosion – reverse mortgages”.
The occasional bad experience is repeated over and over and over again. It scares seniors away from a program that is one of the few beneficial things the government is doing for them. There is a story about the poor little old lady who paid “$20,000 in fees to an unscrupulous lender” that has been repeated for months. This little old lady apparently had no idea what she was doing when she took out the reverse mortgage some years ago. Bullcrap! Let’s hear the rest of the story… but we never do.
Get The Facts
Do some independent investigation. The facts are simple. According to a MetLife Institute study, 93% of all reverse mortgage clients report having a favorable experience! No other financial product can boast this level of acceptance and satisfaction. Let me repeat – no other financial product enjoys a satisfaction level of 93%. Let’s start looking for the good news and stop repeating the occasional horror story.
A Non-Horror Story
This week I closed a loan for an elderly gentleman living on a small pension who was in failing health. He was not destitute, however. He actually owned other properties and some land. His attorney called me in and we discussed the pros and cons of a reverse mortgage to enable him to continue to pay increasing home health care costs. Working with the client, his attorney, a concerned relative and the home care agency – we came up with a plan to provide the needed cash to pay for his home care. If my borrower did not do the reverse mortgage, he would have lost his home to forclosure and entered a nursing home in short order. The reverse mortgage was a financial lifesaver and enabled him to live with dignity and far less worry about his monthly cash flow. He is one of the 93% but you don’t hear these stories on TV or in the press. Too bad.
Author – Robert H. Irving, CSA
Senior Reverse Mortgage Consultant
August 6th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Bravo! I find it so disheartening to think about all the seniors who could benefit so greatly from a reverse mortgage, but won’t because they’ve been scared – by largely uninformed and sensationalist media coverage – into thinking that reverse mortgages are a harbinger of doom.
August 6th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
@Tobkin – Thanks for the cheer. Take heart, even the media idiots and politicians can not overcome the truth! This is a great product… and we who honestly serve the senior are doing work to be proud of.
August 7th, 2009 at 4:38 am
thanks for providing such useful information… It will surely help senior citizens….
August 11th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
@ John – Thank you for your comment. I hope you will let others know.