Widows losing homes in foreclosure

I must admit, I'm a bit jaundiced about these types of stories that come across portraying banks as evil incarnate.  Here, the headline in the New York Times says it all, "Widows pushed into foreclosure."

Geraldine Bates lost her husband to kidney failure last year. Now, she has fallen behind on her mortgage payments and is terrified that she will lose her home in Jacksonville, Fla.

In the latest chapter of the foreclosure crisis, homeowners over 50 are falling into foreclosure at the fastest pace of any age group, according to nationwide data, in part because women are outliving their spouses and are unable to cope with cuts in their pensions, ballooning medical costs — and the fine print on their mortgages.

At first glance, the issue seems little more than a logistical headache. To stay in the home, the surviving spouse needs to take over the mortgage. But to do that, most banks require that the borrower assuming the mortgage be up-to-date on payments. Housing advocates say that their clients, especially if one spouse experienced a prolonged illness, often find they are already thousands of dollars behind.

The solution, ask the Federal government to create a nationwide solution.  Egad, this would be a nightmare as we have courts situated to adequately protect folks in this situation.

In my opinion, we don't have all the facts as I've yet to come across a bank that will not accept payments from the executor or administrator of an estate after the death of the owner of record.  As for modification of an existing mortgage, here, too, the executor or administrator is empowered under state law to act in the place and stead of the deceased owner. 

Finally, there's more than one way to skin a cat because if there's equity in the property, the surviving spouse should be eligible for a reverse mortgage that would pay off the existing first mortgage and provide a continuing cash flow to the survivor if that is desired.

Read the full report here.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Land Services LLC

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 973-227-0645

E-mail sflatow AT vested.com

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