BE CAREFUL WITH REVERSE MORTGAGES ON YOUR PARENTS HOMES... The risks and dangers of reverse mortgages: The Elder Might Need A Care Home in the Future If you incur the debt of a reverse mortgage, or your aging parents do, it’s ok as long as they can live in that home. 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. It Can Affect Any Dependent in the Home If the elder who needs 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. Those displaced if a borrowing elder has to go to a care facility can include a non-borrowing spouse, child or grandchild. They are “tenants” according the the rules of reverse mortgages and they have to leave when the elder does. It Can Go Into Default 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. When the Elder Dies, the Heirs Must Pay Off the Loan 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.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 18:35:37 +0000
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