Reverse Mortgage Loan Blog

A reverse mortgage gives people over 60-years-old a way to get cash by using the equity in their homes. Since they need the money, it’s also making them an easy target to reverse mortgage scammers.

“They could be pocketing thousand of dollars in addition to what they are charging the person,” said Elisabeth Daniels with Nevada’s Fight Fraud Task Force.

Daniels says seniors are easy targets. “These scam artists are very savvy with psychological tactics. They also know seniors may be separated from their families and the seniors may not have a trusted resource locally,” he said.

Smooth talking scammers can promise quick cash for victims using the equity in their homes. They’ll take thousands from their victims using a tactic called fraud counseling. “A senior may not know they are eligible for $100,000 in equity for their home — they may think it’s only $60,000. If they get fraudulent counseling, when the loan goes through, the counselor goes and takes the extra money they didn’t know they were eligible for,” she said.

Daniels also warns about fake fees. “Folks are being charged to get information that they can get for free from HUD about how these reverse mortgages work,” she said.

The mortgage meltdown has created a feeding frenzy for these fake mortgage sharks. “Always be weary of someone approaching you or someone using very high pressure sales tactics. No decision needs to be made quickly, especially as big as dealing with your home mortgage,” she said.

If you have questions or had a bad experience dealing with someone handling your reverse mortgage, you are encouraged to call either a counselor at HUD or someone from Nevada’s Mortgage Lending Division.

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