A pristine look at the features of a reverse mortgage would indicate that it has the characteristics of the type of loan that seniors would describe if they could illustrate the quintessential components they would want in a loan: Easy to qualify for- no income, assets or credit requirements; no personal liability; no monthly mortgage payments to be made; closing costs can be financed; The federal government is looking for their interests; Reverse mortgage proceeds can be received in a variety of ways and receipt of same can change as their circumstances change. A reverse mortgage can indeed change the lives of seniors.
It is apparent that NBC Nightly News on January 10th, 2008 misrepresented the reverse mortgage program by not separating out the misdeeds of the loan officer from the features of the reverse mortgage program. This segment gave the distinct impresion that reverse mortgages are a bad thing.
The senior was absolutely taken advantage of by a miscreant. NBC took the deeds of this unsavory and unscrupulous individual who also sold this borrower an annunity that she could not touch for 20 years. The merits of the reverse mortgage program were not discussed.
Good Morning America that same week also had a segment on reverse mortgages. While it profiled many of the salient features, it was not accurate on some of the proffered facts. Yet one could understand why the demand for the program is soaring.
As long as the media allows "financial experts", who have no experience with the program to discuss same, mistakes will be made. Industry experts can provide a more cogent and precise picture with the concommitant cautions. It is also important to go to the source for the basic facts.
It is interesting and timely that you found this piece because not a week later, I think there is another misrepresentation of reverse mortgages. Frankly, this one is nothing more than a hit piece against reverse mortgages. This one is in the USA Today and here is how I wrote about it...
http://theeprovocateur.blogspot.com/2008/01/demonizing-reverse-mortgages.html
Posted by: Mike Volpe | January 20, 2008 at 02:48 PM
It's great when the media can uncover crooks and scams. It's shameful when these same journalists don't share a balanced view on a subject matter.
From your other posts, it seems that both those interviews could have quoted you to show how reverse mortgages can help seniors. Thanks for blogging about it.
~ Vikram
ViksMarketingBlog.com
Posted by: Vikram Rajan | January 14, 2008 at 11:24 AM