Reverse Mortgages: Older Homeowners Cautioned

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority urged homeowners over the age of 60 to carefully weigh their options before tapping into their home equity through reverse mortgages to obtain additional income for their retirement years.

The group, formed by a merger of the NASD and some regulatory functions of New York Stock Exchange parent NYSE Group Inc., warned that a reverse mortgage — an interest-bearing loan secured by the equity in a home — can jeopardize their financial futures.

With a reverse mortgage, a bank makes payments to a homeowner instead of the homeowner making payments to a bank. The loan is repaid, with interest, when the borrower sells the house, moves out or dies. Reverse mortgages have high fees — typically about 7% of the home's value — and they make it difficult for homeowners to leave the property to their heirs.

The warning notes that, in some cases, those who sell the mortgages may profit from the their sale, giving them twice the incentive to talk someone into a loan they may not need.

Reverse mortgages were originally designed as a tool for aging, low-income homeowners to keep their homes, but they have been used more often by retiring Americans as a way to finance a more-extravagant retirement lifestyle than they could otherwise afford.

Still, as foreclosure rates continue to rise amid the subprime-mortgage crisis, some homeowners who have built up equity in their home may consider reverse mortgages their best option against losing it.

We don't advocate anyone taking out a reverse mortgage… but welcome your thoughts and opinions on it.  Just use the comment link below to tell us what you think about Reverse Mortgages.  Your email address, although required in order to post, will never be published on this site.

Negotiating with Your Lender

You're behind on your mortgage, and you want to save your house. It's time to talk turkey with your lender. But what do you say and who do you say it to?

In this short (1:32) video, Money Talks correspondent Stacy Johnson offers some tips.

Leave any comments you have about this video, or any other tips on things you think should be considered when negotiating with your lender.  Use the comment link below to give us your feedback.

Mortgage Help: Talk is Cheap

With foreclosures and bankruptcies soaring nationwide, both government and private industry have been promising help to homeowners. But is that help materializing?

Learn more about "Hope Now" from Money Talks correspondent Stacy Johnson in this short (1:38) video…

What is your opinion about the "Hope Now" project?  We'd love to hear your feedback.  Click the comment link below and tell us what you think.  Your email will never be published on our site, so no worries about spam issues when you leave a comment with us.

Reverse Mortgages: Pros and Cons

One of the most confusing mortgages to much of the general public is the reverse mortgage.  Lots of folks aren't sure what a reverse mortgage is, who qualifies, how to apply, and where to go to get information.

These are all great questions, and here is a great article that sums it up and explains it in simple terms.

Leave us any comment or question you might have about Reverse Mortgages by clicking on the comment link below.

Foreclosure Scams: Big Business Now

Among the byproducts of the U.S. housing crisis is a surge in scams that cheat people out of their money, their homes, or both, under the guise of offering to rescue them from foreclosure.

Almost every foreclosure rescue program you see advertised anywhere is fraud, and law enforcement lacks the funds to investigate or prosecute all the cases.

As well as extorting money with promises of help that never materialize, other rescue scams include tricking borrowers into signing over part or all of their property.  Often, the owners think they are signing a refinancing when they are actually signing a deed of transfer.

If you are in trouble with your lender, or behind on your mortgage, seek help before help finds you!  Because the help that finds you may not be help at all.  Scam artists are getting slicker and slicker every day in coming up with convincing ways to rob you blind.

If you've been the victim of fraud or some sort of scam, let us hear about it here.  Use the comment link below.  Your identity is protected, we never publish email addresses on this site, and you can even give us a fake name if you want to, that doesn't really matter.  We'd just like to hear your comments.  If you haven't been scammed, but know of someone who has… tell them about this website and ask them to come here and tell about their story.  Perhaps it will save others from falling prey to the same type of fraud.