Villagers Reverse Mortgage a Neighbor Nightmare
 

From The Villages News:

February 10, 2021

“The neglected home of a Villager who died last year at the age of 101 was the subject of a public hearing Wednesday before the Village Center Community Development District Board of Supervisors. The home at 1224 Dustin Drive near the Silver Lake Recreation Center was owned by Dorothy Samler. She died Sept. 13, 2020.
A complaint was received Nov. 22 about tall grass and weeds at the property. The violation was verified the following day by Community Standards.
There is a mortgage on the manufactured home that was placed at the site in 1984. Community Standards said that public records do not indicate the property is in foreclosure.
The property tax bill for the property is mailed to a home in Zephyrhills, according to the Lake County Property Appraiser’s Office. The emergency contact numbers that Samler left with The Villages District Office have been disconnected.
The VCCDD Board found the home to be in violation of deed compliance. The board allowed for three days to bring the property back into compliance. If it is not brought into compliance, fines will be imposed each time the district is forced to maintain the property.”

This home has a reverse mortgage (2004) and has been sitting for 5 months, wasting away. Neighbors are complaining and there is little they can do.
The good news is that the homeowner was able to stay in the home, mortgage-free until passing.
The bad news is that the property is an eyesore. Heirs, if any, get nothing. Neighbor property values decline. Lender doesn’t care as they will be made whole by relying on taxpayer dollars to reimburse them. Remember, the MMI fund is funded with taxpayer dollars and it is, therefore, the taxpayers that are on the hook annually for billions of dollars.
Why not let the lenders be responsible? Imagine how fast their response would be.

This is an all too common result of reverse mortgages. Taxpayers and neighbors get shafted.

At 101, any children are probably close to 80 themselves so who knows what they are capable of doing. A double wide would be on the historic side I believe and whenever I have asked a question or made a comment about property over there I have been told that there are no deed restrictions on the historic side. As for a reverse mortgage, it should be no different than a home equity loan but instead of getting a lump sum and making monthly payments, you get monthly payments that need to be paid back when the home is sold.

This is old news even when the Village rag reported it. RMs are not going anywhere whether you like them or not. This type loan is not for everyone, I get that. However they work for many others,

He saying the RMs don’t work for the neighbors who are collateral damage.

I am not buyin it. So now you think it is ok to try to shame people using a legitimate and lawful loan mechanism,

Since you love RMs so much why don’t you go mow the unsightly lawn.

With respect, that was not the intent of my post. I specifically said that the RM worked out just fine for the owner. My point was to show how the lender has no skin in the game to maintain the property. They will be made whole by the taxpayer-funded MMI fund. The neighborhood pays the price of a home in disrepair. If the lender was held responsible then this would likely not be the issue it is.

Yes, but also, the homeowner has no skin in the game that would incentivize them to maintain or increase the property value like most homeowners do. That is another reason why the situation described in the OP often occurs with reverse mortgage properties.

It takes a lot longer than a few months to foreclose on a property. There is a procedure. It actually can take a couple of years. Lender can’t take care of the property until it transfers to them legally and that will be awhile.

This has nothing to do with it being a Reverse Mortgage. A Foreclosure is just that a Foreclosure of a Mortgage. Sometimes it takes time for the Foreclosure process to play out. I was a Mortgage Banker up North and often saw the process take 2+ years. Stop Shaming Reverse Mortgages, it is a Loan and has the same processes when someone leaves the house as any other collateral loan that is not being paid as agreed.

I disagree. The legal foreclosure process may be similar to that for other mortgages. But, if you have ever inspected reverse mortgage foreclosure properties, you would know that they are very often in deplorable condition and not worth the investment to fix them up for resale. And, as another poster said, the bank has no skin in the game like with other mortgages. People who have a reverse mortgage usually don't have the assets or pride of ownership to properly mantain the house. These are facts that make reverse mortgage foreclosures much different than other foreclosures.

Yeppers... That 101 year old woman should have gotten off her behind and taken care of things.

Guns don't kill people, people kill people.


RM's don't cause weeds & tall grass, people cause weeds & tall grass.


:shocked:

:agree: