Consumer Advocate: Look before you leap into a reverse mortgage
The reverse mortgage – available to homeowners 62 and older – has met criticism lately from federal regulators and consumer advocates who say aggressive sales tactics are pushing the loans on consumers who don’t fully understand the consequences.
The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association has pushed back by saying reverse mortgages have consumer safeguards but are getting a bad rap from unrelated problems – the subprime mortgage mess and the history of fraud against seniors.
So is the reverse mortgage right for you?
“Right person, right circumstances – excellent solution,” said Martha Cox, spokeswoman for Family Foundations of Northeast Florida, a nonprofit that provides mortgage counseling. “Wrong person, wrong circumstances – disaster.”