Monthly Archives: June 2010

Reverse Mortgage Borrowers’ Responsibilities… or Consequences

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Signing Reverse Mortgage ApplicationWhen loan documents are signed at closing, borrowers agree to the terms of the loan, whether a conventional loan for purchase; a conventional home equity mortgage; or a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), the reverse mortgage insured by HUD; or a proprietary (private) reverse mortgage.  As with any home loan, with the reverse mortgage borrowers are using the equity in their home and the title of the home remains in the borrower’s name, no the bank doesn’t own the home, nor do they want the home.

The reverse mortgage has helped seniors 62 and older remain in their home with their security, independence, dignity and control but not without responsibilities to adhere to the terms of the loan.  The main responsibilities are to not violate terms of the loan, generally these include:

  • Paying property taxes
  • Keeping hazard insurance on the property
  • Maintaining the property
  • Paying association dues if appropriate
  • Not changing/transferring the title

Paying property taxes means keeping up with the county property taxes, paying them on time.  If one doesn’t pay property taxes, with or without a loan, the county could start tax forfeiture or foreclosure.

Keeping hazard insurance on the property helps protect the homeowner and lender if there is any damage to the property.  Being the lenders are invested in the property by lending money based on the home equity, they require the insurance so their investment is protected if there is damage.  For example if a tree falls on the home and damages the roof, the hazard insurance will cover the replacement of the roof and bring the home back to the condition required for lender’s investment.

Maintaining the property is required to protect the lender’s investment in the property and includes keeping the home in good condition including not letting the property become run down.  Keeping the roof in good repair, insuring the siding and trim do not have chipped or bear wood but are protected against the elements.  Ensuring against safety issues such as automatic garage doors will rise if something is under them, railings are in place and stable on stairs and decks rotten boards are replaced.  Interior maintenance is also important, for example having heating, electricity, plumbing, water in working order as well as safety issues such as railings on stairs.

If one is in a condo or town home and association dues are required, loans require that the association dues are kept current.  If they are not kept current then the association has the right to force the homeowner from the property.

What are the consequences if the requirements of the reverse mortgage loan terms are not abided by? If terms of the loan agreement are not followed, the lenders have the right to call the loan due and payable or foreclose.

Changing or transferring titles will mean the loan becomes due and payable.  For example if one decides to add a person to the title of the property, implement a Life Estate, or sell the property this changes who the lender’s have invested their interests.  If the property is going to be put in a trust it will not mean the loan will be come due and payable however the lender will need to review the trust to ensure that it meets the requirements of their investors and in the case of the HUD insured HECM, the trust must meet HUD’s guidelines.

The area that has caused the biggest problem is when borrowers don’t pay their the property taxes and hazard insurance. Even though there are a large number of borrowers who have fall into this area, to date there have been very few reverse mortgages foreclosed because of the default of payment for taxes and insurance.  HUD has been very forgiving and not pressuring the servicing companies to foreclose, however this is about to change.

Due to FHA’s budget, the arm of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) who insures the majority of reverse mortgages, is looking to find a solution to their budget shortfalls and make the program profitable.  Fannie Mae who has a large portfolio of the HUD reverse mortgages is also encouraging the HECM servicers to address the issue of delinquent taxes and insurance to protect their company from losses.

With conventional mortgages, if taxes and insurance are not paid, the lenders will start an escrow account, requiring more money from borrowers in their monthly payments for the escrow account.  The lenders then make the tax and insurance payments on behalf of the borrower from their escrow accounts.

Being reverse mortgage borrowers are not making payments collecting funds for the escrow account is not an option.  What the servicing companies have done if there is a line of credit is use these funds to pay the taxes.  If a reveres mortgage borrower is receiving monthly payments, they will be restructured so that the taxes and insurance can be paid.  Unfortunately if all the funds have been used and taxes and insurance have not been paid the loan is in default.

HUD is working toward establishing guidance for the reverse mortgage servicing companies to address the tax and insurance delinquencies.  But if the borrowers do not have the capacity to pay the taxes and insurances they owe, the servicer will be forced to foreclose on the property per HUD’s requirements.  (Note that reverse mortgage servicing companies are required to abide by HUD’s requirements.)

Having reverse mortgage terms and responsibilities explained

Having reverse mortgage terms and responsibilities explained

While the originators, counselors and loan documents spell out these requirements, borrowers must take their responsibilities seriously.  It is also their responsibility to be sure to look at their budget and have a plan to be able to pay their property taxes, hazard insurance as well as maintaining the property.  Then they can remain in their home and enjoy the many benefits of the reverse mortgage.

© 2010 Beth Paterson, Beth’s Reverse Mortgage Blog, 651-762-9648

This material may be re-posted provided it is re-posted in its entirety without modifications and includes the contact information, copyright information and the following link:  http://wp.me/p4EUZQ-lL

Related articles on Reverse Mortgages in Minnestoa:

Blog posts’ information is current as of date post published, program is subject to change in in the future. Contact us for current information, 651-762-9648.

This site or the information provided is not from, or approved by, HUD, FHA, or any US Government or Agency.

Fast Forward To August… Seniors Would Have Lost Their Home To Foreclosure Under New Minnesota Reverse Mortgage Law

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Reverse Mortgage Saves MN Senior's HomeA couple days ago I shared the story of how the reverse mortgage was used to save Ken and Mary’s home from foreclosure.  While we were able to make this happen now in just the 3 weeks we had, if we had received the call from Ken and Mary after August 1, 2010 when the new Minnesota reverse mortgage law is in affect, the ending would be different.

Because of the new 7-day “cooling off” period requirement, Ken and Mary would have lost their home.  Why?  Because the new law requires that borrowers receive and sign a commitment and then wait 7 days before the loan can be closed.  This is in addition to the 3-day federal required rescission.

Let’s look at the timing.  The loan was underwritten and cleared on a Friday, just 5 days before the payment was needed to be in the sheriff’s office.  This, from my understanding is when the commitment would be issued.  So if the commitment was issued on a Friday, the borrowers would need to receive the commitment, sign it and return it.  Even if this was able to be implemented on Friday, the borrowers would need to wait 7 days before the closing could take place.  (I’m assuming actual days, not excluding Sundays and Holidays as the 3-day rescission period does – this has yet to be defined.)

The 7th day would be the following Friday, already 2 days past the redemption date.  Then we have the 3-day rescission period, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday.  Funding would take place on the next Wednesday.  This would have been 7 days after the redemption period.  Seven days too late!

An additional risk of delay as a result of the new law could be the counseling.  Currently reverse mortgage borrowers can receive counseling from HUD-approved counselors in the state or from a list of national counselors.

The new Minnesota law requires the reverse mortgage borrowers only receive counseling from HUD-approved counselors located in the state.  Because there are only 7 counseling agencies in the state of Minnesota, with all borrowers needing to receive the counseling from these 7 agencies, borrowers could face a longer wait time to receive their counseling.  Even now scheduling times with a counselor can be 2 to 3 weeks out.  While they make some exceptions if one is in foreclosure, there could still be a longer wait to receive the counseling, not necessarily the next day as Ken and Mary were able to receive now.

Being processing of a reverse mortgage cannot start until after borrowers have received and signed the counseling certificate, the longer time frame could also mean the seniors losing their home.

The law makers, in an effort to “protect” seniors, will be causing some seniors to lose their home to foreclosure.  Interesting enough the reverse mortgage bill was added as an amendment to the foreclosure bill.

Sad day - you're going to lose your homeI’m glad we were able to help Ken and Mary save their home.  It’s going to be a sad day come August 1st when we have to tell the “Ken’s and Mary’s” who call us and say we have 3 weeks to redeem our home from foreclosure, “Sorry, we can’t take your application, process, close and fund the loan in that time frame because there is a new law that says you have to find a counselor in Minnesota that can do your counseling tomorrow and then after the file is underwritten and ready to close you have to have a 7-day cooling off period in addition to a 3-day rescission period.”  This will break my heart.

In my opinion, one senior losing their home because of the new law and an extra unnecessary “cooling off” period is one too many!

© 2010 Beth Paterson, Beth’s Reverse Mortgage Blog, 651-762-9648

This material may be re-posted provided it is re-posted in its entirety without modifications and includes the contact information, copyright information and the following link:   http://wp.me/p4EUZQ-lA

Related articles:

Blog posts’ information is current as of date post published, program is subject to change in in the future. Contact us for current information, 651-762-9648.

This site or the information provided is not from, or approved by, HUD, FHA, or any US Government or Agency.

At The Eleventh Hour… Reverse Mortgage Used To Save MN Senior’s Home

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We need a reverse mortgageThe call came it at 5:00 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon, “We’re in foreclosure, the redemption period ends in three weeks.  We need a reverse mortgage.”  Ken and Mary, in their 60’s, were in a tight spot and about to lose their home if we couldn’t get the reverse mortgage application taken, processed, closed and funded within the three weeks to the date of the late afternoon phone call.  There were no exceptions to getting an extension of the redemption period.

Being from a smaller town, they hadn’t heard about reverse mortgages previously until they were visiting relatives in another state and heard them advertised.  When back in Minnesota they looked up reverse mortgages and found their way to us.  After an initial two-hour conversation explaining the details and terms of  the HUD insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (or HECM) they decided to proceed knowing their only option to save their home was the reverse mortgage… they had already checked out other options with no success.

The first thing needed was their HUD required reverse mortgage counseling.  Fortunately they were able to receive the counseling the next day.  Once we received the counseling certificate with their signatures, on Friday, the following day, the application was taken and then the processing began.  FHA Case number was assigned, title work ordered, appraisal order placed, credit report and flood certification obtained.

Then the surprises arrived.  First was a lien from Veterans Affairs that would need to be paid.  The credit report showed a judgment from a credit card debt that was also required to be paid.  Then the appraised value came in less than expected.  And the appraiser stated the roof needed repair along with another small repair.  This meant that the Ken and Mary would need to get contractor bids for the required repairs.

These factors meant a difference in the amount of reverse mortgage funds that would be available.  When the calculations were run, in order to pay off the mortgage in foreclosure, the VA lien, the judgment, and set aside funds for the repairs, Ken and Mary needed to bring money to the closing or lose their home.

HUD does not allow extra funds to be borrowed, funds need to be from the borrower’s own resources or a gift.  This caused an additional obstacle:  they had to come up with the extra money.

Determined to save their home from the foreclosure Ken and Mary worked and addressed all the issues that they faced.  Fortunately they received the gift of funds, provided the necessary gift letter and documentation.  The contractor’s bids were submitted to us and title work and payoff statements received.

Not an easy task with all the obstacles that popped up along with two weekends and a holiday falling during this time frame.  However with lots of phone calls, explanations, guidance, and scrambling to pull everything together, the file was processed and submitted to underwriting, just 12 days after the application, 14 days after the initial phone call.

Two days later the file was underwritten, conditions received, addressed and then cleared.  This was on the last day for the file to be closed in order to allow the 3-day rescission period before funding on the last day of the redemption period.   The closing department rushed to get the closing package assembled and sent to the title company in time for the Friday afternoon closing.

Reverse Mortgage Saves MN Senior's HomeThe following Wednesday, just 3 weeks after that 5:00 p.m. phone call and on the last day for Ken and Mary to redeem their home from foreclosure, the reverse mortgage was funded.  The title company representative drove to the county sheriff’s office to personally deliver the payment.  Whew, just in time.

With sighs of relief, Ken and Mary are able to stay in the home that they had built and lived in since 1972.

It took a team of many who cared enough to rush things through to save this home from foreclosure.  Besides our originator and processor, this included the counselor, the title company, the appraisal management company and appraiser, the lender’s processors, underwriter, closing and funding departments.  How rewarding this is for all of us!

© 2010 Beth Paterson, Beth’s Reverse Mortgage Blog, 651-762-9648

This material may be re-posted provided it is re-posted in its entirety without modifications and includes the contact information, copyright information and the following link:  http://wp.me/p4EUZQ-ll

Related articles:

Blog posts’ information is current as of date post published, program is subject to change in in the future. Contact us for current information, 651-762-9648.

This site or the information provided is not from, or approved by, HUD, FHA, or any US Government or Agency.

A Minnesota Reverse Mortgage Borrower Speaks Out On The Benefits With Her Reverse Mortgage

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MN Woman Shares The Benefits Of Her Reverse Mortgage“I’m a happy consumer of reverse mortgages.  I feel that it’s had an unjustly bad name in the past, at least I’ve heard under currents of  ‘oh, you wouldn’t like that.’  Well let’s get at this logically.  I’ve had a good experience with it and I like Beth’s approach.  So I wanted to share my experience and what had changed in my life.

“Life was happy and good with a family and a career.  I was all happy and good with the insurance that goes with a nice job.  When retirement time came I had a fair pension and that with Social Security were going to see me through things.

“But that didn’t match my goals.  I wanted to travel more when I was retired and visit my now expanded family and I was getting charges of $400 – $500 for tickets 2-3 times a year plus indebtedness for rewiring in the house, I wanted to remodel things and was running across some fascinating new hobbies.  So I wanted to have new hobbies and travel.  And do what was the healthiest thing I could think of on earth which was having a very right good time now and let the future take care of itself if I took care.

“So that led me to talk to some friends when I was running low on funds.  Several people referred to the fact that Beth Paterson was quoted on reverse mortgages.  To be quoted was quite a credential.  I had a meeting with Beth.  I was 73 at the time.  I was undecided at the time so I waited.  Time changed and I still had a lot of ambition and 75 came along and I wanted some improvements in my home and I was confidently that I could likely spend 10 or more years happily in my home if I had home health care.  That is a big deal to know when you are 70 something to know that if you fall and need some months of assistance.

“When I talked with Beth the 2nd time it all came together.  I was very happy with the amount of care she spent with me.  My family was able to call her and get answers to our questions and they were pretty astute questions.  Beth took the time to answer every one of them.  I had shopped around and I stayed with Beth.

“My life changed from uncertainty on how I was going to pay my electrical bills, and whether I could even stay in this community or whether I needed to move to assisted living which meant moving.  That wasn’t the preferred path.  I was sure I could stay in my home.  I was sure I could get the reverse mortgage loan.  And now I was able to get a nice low rate.

“I immediately found that I could get relief from my old small mortgage. [The reverse mortgage needs to be in first lien position which means  any current mortgages or liens need to be paid off.  This eliminates mortgage payments because there are no payments required on the reverse mortgage.  Borrowers are responsible for property taxes and hazard insurance.]  The relief was so great that I could now stop worrying about how I could pay this within my income.  So I left my Line Of Credit alone – didn’t use it – just the relief for paying off the old mortgage and the old debts and some ability to understand my budget and handle it better.

“Now I have my dignity back and my independence.  And my children are heaving sighs of relief because they aren’t worried about me any more – I’ve answered some of their questions: where I do I want to be cared for as I age.  They aren’t going to be blind-sided.

“I was very pleased with what happened.”

Edna, who took out her Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) in 2008, shared this story during a presentation where she joined me recently at a Minnesota senior resource fair workshop.

© 2010 Beth Paterson, Beth’s Reverse Mortgage Blog, 651-762-9648

This material may be re-posted provided it is re-posted in its entirety without modifications and includes the contact information, copyright information and the following link:  http://wp.me/p4EUZQ-l6

Related articles:

Blog posts’ information is current as of date post published, program is subject to change in in the future. Contact us for current information, 651-762-9648.

This site or the information provided is not from, or approved by, HUD, FHA, or any US Government or Agency.

Using The Reverse Mortgage As A Tool To Strategically Manage One’s Assets

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Reverse Mortgage Works Wonders for MN womanDorothy closed on her Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) reverse mortgage in 2006.  Now four years later during a presentation where she joined me at a Minnesota senior resource fair workshop , she shared how the reverse mortgage has been a tool to strategically manage her assets and the benefits she has received from her reverse mortgage.  Here’s what she had to say.

“I have a single family residence and have lived there for many years and working and wasn’t looking too much to the future.  I ‘knew’ Social Security was going to take care of me… my mother had gotten by on it and I figured I would too.

“I had worked part time as a travel escort and the travel bug had bitten me through the years.  I retired at 65.  While the career line I had allowed me to take extra vacation time to escort tours what it didn’t do was provide a pension.  So I had no hospitalization or a pension when I retired.  I didn’t face those facts right away.  I had invested and purchased stocks over the years in modest amounts.  I figured that would be my answer to any and everything.  When I wanted to travel I just cashed in part of a stock and I took off and did some great fun things.

“However we know the stock market took a plunge a couple of times and what I had was back down to half or less than what I had built up.  Also I was having to use this in addition to my Social Security income.  Fortunately I was able to have paid off my mortgage by the time I retired so I didn’t have those payments.  I thought it would be easy street.

“I had a house paid for and was able to get a line of credit from the bank.  Anything I wanted to do I would I just borrow the money on the line of credit.  After that climbed I would cash some stock in to pay the line of credit.

“Pretty soon I needed a car.  I took out a loan on the car.  Those payments got kind of high.  Pretty soon I’m paying the line of credit and the car payment.  And I was using up my stock portfolio.  I was owing more to the bank than I had stock to pay off all this line of credit.  The stock broker I was talking with said, you have your house paid for, the best thing I could do would be to get a reverse mortgage.

“Luckily I was able to meet up with Beth Paterson.  We talked so I would understand the program.  The man I had worked for was a very astute business man and had run a mortgage company.  So I took the information to him and asked if there was anything that looked doubtful to him; is there anything that I don’t see or is this something I should do?  He said, ‘It’s the best thing in the world for you.  I can’t advise you to do anything better for you.’

“I have my reverse mortgage.  I decided that as long as I was getting my Social Security and didn’t have to touch my stock, I wanted a reverse mortgage line of credit.  I didn’t want a lump sum.  My reverse mortgage line of credit would grow at nice increments – it was growing faster than my stock portfolio was growing.  [The reverse mortgage line of credit grows at .5% more than the interest on the loan.  For example if the interest on the loan is 2.5% the growth rate is 3% on funds left in the line of credit.]

“I also decided to take a minimal monthly payment.  Now I’m going to get that payment until I’m 150.  I’m going to be 83 this year and I’ve got my mind set that I’m going to live to 150 so that I can get that last dollar from HUD that I’m helping to pay into on this insurance program. [Note the due date listed on the reverse mortgage recorded at the county is the 150th birth date of the youngest borrower.]

Reverse Mortgage Allows Dorothy to Travel“The reverse mortgage has given me a great feeling of security.  Because if I want to take a trip I just send a fax in and request the amount of money I want.  I don’t have to touch my stock.  My line of credit is going up every month as long as there are funds there.  It’s much better than CDs.

“I’ve done home repairs, this winter I had to replace my car and it turned out I couldn’t use my driveway so I’ve taken some funds to get my driveway repaired.  My yard needed some attention that I had overlooked because I didn’t want to spend the money.  So I’ve taken some funds for that too.  I still have a nice sum in my line of credit and I haven’t had to use my stock.

“I watch the market go up and down and it’s not life and death like it had been before when I knew I just had that stock and when it was gone then what would I do.

“It’s worked wonders for me.  I’ve been able to take trips with the money, repair my house, re-roof it, and do this and that.  It’s given me ease of mind and it’s certainly helped my kids because at one point I think they thought they would have to help me financially and they weren’t looking forward to that.  Now that worry is off their mind.  So as long as I can, I will stay in my home, and that’s what I plan to do.”

This is one example of how a reverse mortgage has made a positive difference in the life of a senior and allowed her to strategically manage her assets during her retirement years.

© 2010 Beth Paterson, Beth’s Reverse Mortgage Blog, 651-762-9648

This material may be re-posted provided it is re-posted in its entirety without modifications and includes the contact information, copyright information and the following link: http://wp.me/p4EUZQ-kD

Related articles:

Blog posts’ information is current as of date post published, program is subject to change in in the future. Contact us for current information, 651-762-9648.

This site or the information provided is not from, or approved by, HUD, FHA, or any US Government or Agency.