I'm going to start fervently believing what I see and hear in the ma$$ media as God's gospel and honest tru..... ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!
I'm sorry, I thought I could get through it without laughing.
"The fix that failed: reverse mortgages" by Susan Taylor Martn | Tampa Bay Times June 04, 2014
You’ve probably seen the TV ads: Actors including Henry Winkler, Robert Wagner, and Fred Thompson tout reverse mortgages as ‘‘a safe, effective financial tool.’’
Umm, yeah, I have.
‘‘It allows you to eliminate monthly payments, pay some bills, or simply enjoy your retirement,’’ Thompson, also a former US senator and presidential candidate, says in his folksy drawl. ‘‘It allows seniors to stay in their homes.’’
Most reverse mortgages are federally insured loans that let people 62 and older turn part of their home equity into cash. The homeowners can take a lump sum or get monthly payments, or a combination. Either way, they don’t make monthly principal and interest payments.
Yes, it is something I have been thinking very strongly about as my revenue sources dry up. Sounds like a great deal and option.
When the homeowners move or die, the amount of the loan and the accumulated interest must be repaid. If there is enough equity remaining, the owners or their heirs can sell the home, pay what’s owed to the reverse mortgage company, and keep the rest.
The reverse mortgage company is counting on people not staying in the house for long.
Well, I would like to think I'm going to be around a while longer anyway. No one really knows, but knock wood.
And if the house sells for less than what is owed, the Federal Housing Agency takes the loss, not the mortgage company.
Meaning TAXPAYERS are on the HOOK?
See: Housing debt still traps 10 million Americans
At least they are not homeless.
Homeowners who received debt relief may face large tax bills
Kind of a shocker, huh?
Time to go home.
Created by a Maine savings and loan in 1961, reverse mortgages were relatively uncommon until the real estate boom boosted home values in the early 2000s.
Oh, now it is feeling like ANOTHER WALL STREET SWINDLE!
New reverse mortgages peaked in 2009 at nearly 115,000 in the United States as many homeowners sought ways to stay financially afloat during a recession....
Yeah!
Reverse mortgages can be a useful financial tool for homeowners who have substantial equity, intend to live in their homes for many years, and plan to take the cash out over time instead of all at once....
Related: Boston Sunday Globe Business Section Not For Me
I know that now.
Because many were ‘‘young’’ seniors in their 60s, withdrawing so much money early in their retirement could mean less money to cover major expenses later in life.
I don't care; I need that money to LIVE NOW! The way this country is being governed, there MAY NOT BE MUCH of a TOMORROW anyway!
‘‘Reverse mortgages are complex products that are difficult for consumers to understand,’’ the study stated.
The HALLMARK of a $CHEMING $WINDLE!
The study also found a long-running problem with ‘‘deceptive advertising,’’ including solicitations that imply a federally insured reverse mortgage is a government benefit rather than a loan.
What? But I already paid off most of the house.
This is starting to look like some sort of Inside Job.
Another potential problem: As of 2012, the consumer bureau said, ‘‘a surprisingly large proportion’’ of reverse mortgage borrowers, 9.4 percent, were at risk of foreclosure because they didn’t pay the taxes or insurance.
WHAT?
As for who should take out a reverse mortgage, the mortgage company may have gambled wrong in loaning so much on the house, which now has a market value of just $87,500. But because the loan was federally insured, the company will get its money back, and taxpayers will ultimately foot the bill....
Which will go fine with the foot in their a$$!! Try to think of it as part of a $et.
--more--"
Aaaah.
The Fonz would never lie to me, and nor would my propaganda pre$$.
