Reverse Mortgage Loophole May Make Me Homeless...
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This appeal began with a roof repair that my aging mother could not afford. Now, thanks to the perils (evils) of so-called reverse mortgages, I am fighting to avoid losing our house entirely, leaving her abandoned to a nursing home, and me to homelessness. I am hoping the generosity of you and other strangers can prevent that by helping me fix the roof, which is now a legal mandate if we are to keep the house. If nothing else, I hope this experience might help others avoid the same scam that has led to our truly terrible situation.
I have been the sole caregiver for my 96 year old mother for the last nine years, since the passing of my father on May 14, 2010. When my father passed away, I was living in Cincinnati Ohio, working as a jazz music promoter and trying to open a jazz club restaurant in Cincinnati. My father’s death forced me to place those plans on hold. While she had been able to take care of herself in the short-term (she could cook, dress herself, and manage for short periods on her own), before long it was clear I would have to become her sole caregiver.
So, for the first two years after my father’s passing, I commuted from Virginia to Cincinnati every weekend, while trying to maintain my promotions business which had already been struggling. By early 2013, her memory and mental acuity were slipping fast. Not to the point of full Alzheimer’s, but to where she simply could not care for herself, so I decided to move-in and take care of her full-time.
Then last July, things really got ugly. While still beating the bushes to find money for roof repairs, I was admitted to the hospital for a life-threatening case of severe cellulitis in my left leg. Despite a frenzied effort, I could find no one willing or able to take care of my mother while I was hospitalized. So that my mother wasn’t abandoned, I was forced to bring her to the hospital room with me.
Unfortunately, the hospital refused to allow her to stay during my treatment, but fortunately, various members of my church were kind enough to stay with her for three days in our home. But I was going to be hospitalized for an extended period (which ultimately became two weeks), so my treating physician asked the hospital’s social services to get involved. They chose a home care service to come to out home and care for mom.
When the caregivers arrived at the house, they discovered the still-leaking roof, and citing statutes 1, 5, 9 and whatever, politely refused to care for her any longer. The Hospital Social Services subsequently arranged for a nursing home to take over. Twice while I was STILL in the hospital, the nursing home actually transported her into my hospital room and threatened to leave her there due to “lack of payment”. Seriously. They just dumped her there—in my hospital room!
Two weeks later, when I was discharged, social services refused to allow my mother to return home until the roof was repaired.
Since July, mom has been held in that nursing home. She has been taken to the emergency room twice. In the 9 years I have been taking care of her, she has been to the hospital only once, for back pain. A proud woman who resents being looked-after to begin with, I was already terrified that that if she remained in that home, she would die of shame, loneliness, or depression—if not outright neglect by a typically insensitive staff. And then the other shoe dropped.
Curious about refinancing prospects, I re-read mom’s reverse mortgage loan agreement and almost fell out of my chair. Reverse mortgages are a well-known, heavily-promoted scam that rely on clever, finely-printed loopholes that can apply far more often than a desperate or financially naive homeowner will notice or think is material to their case. That’s how they get you. In this case, mom’s loan had a proviso that if the owner is away from home for just two months—for any reason—they can foreclose on the property.
And thus, because of my life threatening illness, my mother and I now both face the very real and immediate prospect of losing her (our) home of the last 60 years. December 11th, 2019, is the deadline. We either pay or we go.
There is no appeal possible. My mother will be unable to return home to family that cares about her, and I myself will be homeless. This is why I had no choice but to ask for assistance through this GoFundMe plea. To return my mother to her home, give her final years some dignity and grace, and keep me from living in the street.
Thank you for reading this far. While any financial assistance you can afford will be greatly appreciated, it is my sincere hope that this appeal will also empower you to warn others of the perils of these insidious Reverse Mortgages. They sound too good to be true, because they are.
I have been the sole caregiver for my 96 year old mother for the last nine years, since the passing of my father on May 14, 2010. When my father passed away, I was living in Cincinnati Ohio, working as a jazz music promoter and trying to open a jazz club restaurant in Cincinnati. My father’s death forced me to place those plans on hold. While she had been able to take care of herself in the short-term (she could cook, dress herself, and manage for short periods on her own), before long it was clear I would have to become her sole caregiver.
So, for the first two years after my father’s passing, I commuted from Virginia to Cincinnati every weekend, while trying to maintain my promotions business which had already been struggling. By early 2013, her memory and mental acuity were slipping fast. Not to the point of full Alzheimer’s, but to where she simply could not care for herself, so I decided to move-in and take care of her full-time.
Then last July, things really got ugly. While still beating the bushes to find money for roof repairs, I was admitted to the hospital for a life-threatening case of severe cellulitis in my left leg. Despite a frenzied effort, I could find no one willing or able to take care of my mother while I was hospitalized. So that my mother wasn’t abandoned, I was forced to bring her to the hospital room with me.
Unfortunately, the hospital refused to allow her to stay during my treatment, but fortunately, various members of my church were kind enough to stay with her for three days in our home. But I was going to be hospitalized for an extended period (which ultimately became two weeks), so my treating physician asked the hospital’s social services to get involved. They chose a home care service to come to out home and care for mom.
When the caregivers arrived at the house, they discovered the still-leaking roof, and citing statutes 1, 5, 9 and whatever, politely refused to care for her any longer. The Hospital Social Services subsequently arranged for a nursing home to take over. Twice while I was STILL in the hospital, the nursing home actually transported her into my hospital room and threatened to leave her there due to “lack of payment”. Seriously. They just dumped her there—in my hospital room!
Two weeks later, when I was discharged, social services refused to allow my mother to return home until the roof was repaired.
Since July, mom has been held in that nursing home. She has been taken to the emergency room twice. In the 9 years I have been taking care of her, she has been to the hospital only once, for back pain. A proud woman who resents being looked-after to begin with, I was already terrified that that if she remained in that home, she would die of shame, loneliness, or depression—if not outright neglect by a typically insensitive staff. And then the other shoe dropped.
Curious about refinancing prospects, I re-read mom’s reverse mortgage loan agreement and almost fell out of my chair. Reverse mortgages are a well-known, heavily-promoted scam that rely on clever, finely-printed loopholes that can apply far more often than a desperate or financially naive homeowner will notice or think is material to their case. That’s how they get you. In this case, mom’s loan had a proviso that if the owner is away from home for just two months—for any reason—they can foreclose on the property.
And thus, because of my life threatening illness, my mother and I now both face the very real and immediate prospect of losing her (our) home of the last 60 years. December 11th, 2019, is the deadline. We either pay or we go.
There is no appeal possible. My mother will be unable to return home to family that cares about her, and I myself will be homeless. This is why I had no choice but to ask for assistance through this GoFundMe plea. To return my mother to her home, give her final years some dignity and grace, and keep me from living in the street.
Thank you for reading this far. While any financial assistance you can afford will be greatly appreciated, it is my sincere hope that this appeal will also empower you to warn others of the perils of these insidious Reverse Mortgages. They sound too good to be true, because they are.
Organizer
Walter G Broadnax Jr.
Organizer
Chesapeake, VA