It’s no secret that foreclosures are becoming a problem across the nation and recently I began working with a senior to try and stop the foreclosure of her home with a reverse mortgage.  Apparently I’m not the only one doing this because yesterday the WSJ published a piece on this to.

The senior turned 62 a little less than a year ago and her foreclosure notice came just about the same time.  I’ve spent at least 6 months working with the borrower who was originally hesitant to use a reverse mortgage in order to prevent losing her home.

The borrowers home was recently appraised at $175,000 and her previous mortgage balance before the foreclosure process began was about $89,000.  Today, her current balance with the lender is around $106,000 when you add on other fees that the lender has added on during the foreclosure process.  By using a reverse mortgage she is about $6,000 short of what she needs to close on her reverse mortgage.  My hope is that the lender who recently closed shop will accept a short payoff… has anyone done anything like this before?

I’ve been working with a fantastic woman from the Illinois States Attorneys Office who also is a reverse mortgage counselor for AARP.  She has been in contact with the lender asking if they will accept a short payoff on the loan and they understandably wanted to see an appraisal and the summary of how the numbers would work for a reverse mortgage. 

Late last week I received the appraisal and forwarded in on to the woman and now all I can do is wait…  I’m not sure if this will work but I figure it’s worth a shot if it would save the woman from foreclosure.

Technorati tags: Reverse Mortgage, Foreclosure, HECM, FHA, Seniors