Las vegas, NV. Reverse Mortgages non borrower spouse court challenge

www.lasvegasmtg.com report: Reverse Mortgage non borrower spouse court challenge by AARP for 3 non borrowing spouses back in 2011 has been revived with a court of appeals reversal of Washington D.C. district court dismissal. This is already affecting new Reverse Mortgage application in Las Vegas, NV.

A lawsuit concerning the non-borrowing spouses of reverse mortgage borrowers was revived again by the decision of a court of appeals after having been dismissed earlier by a Washington D.C. District Court.

Determined that there were still issues that need be resolved regarding the the liability of the non-borrowing spouse upon the death of the the borrower to keep the house. The suit was brought on behalf of the 3 non borrowing spouses by the AARP when it was challenged that Department Housing of Urban Development had defaulted on the protection that was set in 1989 that stated the borrowers would never owe more than what the property was worth at the time of the borrower death.
In 2008 the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued the mortgagee letter required the surviving spouse regardless of them being a borrower or non-borrowing spouse was required to pay the full loan balance in order to keep the house or face foreclosure even if the house was now worth less.
Department of Housing and Urban Development later revised the mortgagee letter guidance following the allegations that HUD had abandoned the original protection that was set in place in 1989 by clarifying that the surviving heir was able to purchase the property at the appraised value. This was the reason the Washington D.C. case was dismissed as the court determined it was resolved by the HUD new letter.

With the ambiguity of liability for the heirs or non-borrowing surviving spouses to keep the house of a reverse mortgage is now going to be decided in court of appeals. What is the effect with new reverse mortgages that has a non-borrowing spouse? Two of the largest reverse mortgage lenders have already issued statements they will not take on any new reverse mortgage applications with non-borrowing spouses. This would affect all reverse mortgage refinances and reverse mortgage purchases.