The National Consumer Law Center (r) (http://www.consumerlaw.org/) prepared an interesting white paper in October 2009 entitled "How Reverse Mortgage Lenders Put Older Homeowner's Equity at Risk".
CONCLUSION
(1) Senior advocates and policy makers supported the creation of reverse mortgages as a means to help seniors
(2) The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) is federally insured and has been a lifeline to cash strapped seniors who need additional income since its creation over 20 years ago. (Yes, this option is not new and has been around for quite some time)
(3) But today, the consumer protections built into the program are being eclipsed by the drive to exploit senior home equity by major banks, insurance companies, mortgage brokers, and Wall Street investors.
(4) Sophisticated sales campaigns designed to maximize loan volume...threaten the financial well-being of America's seniors.
Bad advice and reverse mortgages provided by private insurers who are selling overpriced and inappropriate financial products make conditions where the entire home equity is gone too quickly or lost in some other venture. As with so many things, what started out as a good idea has been distorted. I will write more about reverse mortgages.
An Introduction
Hi. Welcome to BourGroup and my blog. Phil
Phil Bour is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm) professional since 2004, a Magna Cum Laude college graduate and an accounting professional for over 35+ years. I love numbers, statistics and economic history.
I am also an Enrolled Agent (EA) to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and to prepare tax returns.
"Phil"osophy: I believe that you can manage your money on your own (not necessarily through individual stock selection but through mutual funds, ETF's and other solutions) once you receive some one-time, professional guidance. Why pay annual fees when there may be little added value? For additional information, first read the "An Introduction" label at the left. Then move on to others.
Phil Bour is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm) professional since 2004, a Magna Cum Laude college graduate and an accounting professional for over 35+ years. I love numbers, statistics and economic history.
I am also an Enrolled Agent (EA) to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and to prepare tax returns.
"Phil"osophy: I believe that you can manage your money on your own (not necessarily through individual stock selection but through mutual funds, ETF's and other solutions) once you receive some one-time, professional guidance. Why pay annual fees when there may be little added value? For additional information, first read the "An Introduction" label at the left. Then move on to others.