I moved back from Greece, away from family, in 2005 to be with my dad, he is now 80 and alone. We discussed and agreed that he would sell his home and move back to Greece with me so that he can live with me and not ever go into a home. I have introduced him to some other senior friends here, as he had no-one, and now I believe they have influenced him to do the reverse mortgage. My partner gave him $50,000.00 about 6 months ago to pay off his mortgage and debts, but he has recently gone ahead and did the reverse mortgage, without consulting us, but i found out anyway. He never toldl us, but just said he didnt want to move to Greece because of the money exchange being so bad and that he has good friends here now. I feel hurt as he now knows that I will not be going home to Greece but will have to stay here to take care of him when he is incapable of doing so alone, so now I am worried that maybe he will lose his home on the reverse mortgage, please help.
Please read over all the paperwork that came with this mortgage.... I wouldn't be surprised if there is a clause that says if your Dad lives elsewhere, that after one year the loan can be called. Thus someone would need to pay the mortgage, all the interest and all the fees. If that isn't possible than the mortgage company will ask that the house be placed on the market For Sale by a Realtor at fair market value.
The exception to the rule is if your Dad was married at the time of obtaining said reverse mortgage. A spouse can remain in the home until that spouse passes... then the loan will be called.
But your father does not wish to go to Greece. He feels his ties are here. That seems reasonable to me -- it should be his decision.
But you get to make decisions, too. Are you really willing to stay here another 10 years or more? Why do you have to be here? Many, many elderly people get by without having children near them. There are all kinds of resources available to your father. You may need to come back at some point to see him settled in a care center, if it comes to that, but I don't see why you each can't decide where you will each live.
I personally wish reverse mortgages were illegal. Often the people who take them out cannot really afford to remain in their homes and end up defaulting on requirements of the RM. They can sound so good when advertised on TV, but they are instruments designed to make a lot of money for the lender, and not something done as a favor to older people. My philosophy on reverse mortgages is that if you need to take one out, then you really can't afford one. It would be far better to sell and downsize when maintaining that old house becomes too difficult.
Do not use a Reverse Mortgage to pay debts as the RM is also a debt that needs to be repaid, along with interest, fees, etc.
http://www.aarp.org/money/credit-loans-debt/reverse_mortgages/
http://www.revmortgage.org/
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/housing/sfh/hecm/hecmabou
be well be happy all,
Gina
Since I do not know if your dad was fully compitent at the time he did reverse morgage, it becomes difficult to know the complete story. By the way~was there POA set up over your dad's estate?
I have read some of the feedback already, and there are also some valuable tools for you to work with.
Good luck!
Hap
Note too that the mortgage lender doesn't own the house, but they do have a mortgage on it. So whenever the house is sold, they must be paid back first before any equity can remain, just as with a regular mortgage.
AARP has quite a lot of resources available about reverse mortgages here:
http://www.aarp.org/money/personal/reverse_mortgages/
Hope this helps!
Sure someone with real knowledge will pipe in. Perhaps you might have to wait until advance dementia or actual nursing home placement to bring your father to Greece, if indeed you can transport him.