reverse mortgages

Question from a Wisconsin homeowner reference reverse mortgages: Interested in applying for a HUD Home equity conversion mortgage on my primary residence, but my wife, who is 59 and retired, is a co-owner. Do we have to file a quick claim deed putting the property ownership just in my name (since I am 62 and therefore qualify) or do we just go to our current mortgage holder (bank) and just title the home in my name?

[HomeGuru]

Originally posted by AW Gardens
Question from a Wisconsin homeowner reference reverse mortgages: Interested in applying for a HUD Home equity conversion mortgage on my primary residence, but my wife, who is 59 and retired, is a co-owner. Do we have to file a quick claim deed putting the property ownership just in my name (since I am 62 and therefore qualify) or do we just go to our current mortgage holder (bank) and just title the home in my name?

**A: when you talked to the people at HUD, what did they tell you?

Haven't talked to anyone at HUD, was going to call a banker and wanted to know ahead of time how difficult it might be just to show myself as the (only) and youngest home owner. Current mortgage shows both of us as home owners and the land title is also in both of our names. Wife is too young to qualify as a home owner under these reverse mortgages.

[HomeGuru]

First talk to HUD or a mortgage broker familar with such a progam.

[HUD-1]

A quit claim from her to you would work, but several issues arise. If you go into a nursing home for over one year, the loan is due and payable, leaving your wife in a bind as she is not an owner nor a borrower unde the HECM loan. There could possibly be tax implications as well as you would have to sell. I understand that she could give you a Life Estate in the property and you could qualify for a HECM on this basis. Talk to your mortgage rep and an attorney. Either way, you would most likely want to refinance into a new HECM when she turns 62 to get you both on as owners and as borrowers.

Belated thanks to both Home Guru and Hud-1 for your good counseling on reverse mortgages. Finally got thru to HUD by email and got a human and helpful response; also from the AARP folks at the other end of the federally-funded Reverse Mortgage Education Program. If anyone else is trying to research these mortgages, I suggest you call the AARP line at 202-434-6082. They offer the screening and counseling required by HUD on these loans, send out booklets, then answer questions again. HUD will also provide a list of the approved full service FHA lenders (NOT mortgage brokers), and will sort through all the HUD links to find the 203b section of the National Housing Act that lists what the lending cap is on homes in your particular county. I sure got some funny answers when I called local (and big) lending institutions, inc. banks, co-ops, "brokers", and even the HUD listings for near-by Housing Development Partnership and Coalition of Aging Groups and asked if they either funded reverse mortgages or could answer questions .... both the housing groups said I'd have to call AARP, the lending institutions said, "uh.uh. hold on**************uh.uh. we don't handle those."
The wife now wants me to promise I won't go into a nursing home before she turns 62 and can go back on as a home owner and, I could have sworn, she got out and polished the .38 ... not sure.

[HomeGuru]

Interesting.