USA Today series on the problems with reverse mortgages

Reverse mortgages are a loan product available to seniors when their house is paid off.  The mortgagee receives a monthly payment, which comes from tapping the equity value of the home.

But when the mortgagee dies, to get the house back, the survivors have to pay a fee equal to 95% of the value of the house.  Most families aren't able to pull this off.

One of the major discoveries in all the foreclosures that transpired in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 Great Financial Crisis was that there were major documentation, ownership and process issues when it came to handling mortgages.

Many people lost their homes because of process failures within the mortgage companies.

The USA Today investigation series shows that the reverse mortgage loan sector has the same kind of problems discovered in the main mortgage loan sector, and many families with the means to keep the home end up being screwed.

I just came across this, but the series ran in June.

-- "Seniors were sold a risk-free retirement with reverse mortgage"
-- "Should you get a reverse mortgage? The reasons you should or shouldn't"
-- "Reverse mortgages left many seniors in foreclosure. Here's what can be done to stop it"

Actor Tom Selleck shills reverse mortgages in tv commercials.

It's a very good discussion of the problem, irrespective of the specific focus on seniors.

Predatory practices.  The article also explores predatory practices, where mortgages are both heaviliy marketed and sold to households that may not have been in the best position to take on such a financial product.

Such practices contributed to the GFC ("Victimizing the Borrowers: Predatory Lending's Role in the Subprime Mortgage Crisis," Wharton School of Business) but were not the only cause.

Foreclosures in bulk devastate neighborhoods.  While the stories are about a mortgage product for seniors, because the mortgages can go into foreclosure, the primary article has an extensive section about foreclosures and how a preponderance of foreclosures in close proximity can have extraordinary negative impact on neighborhoods.