Illinois Attorney Saves Homes from Foreclosure Using Reverse Mortgages - Mandelman Matters

This past year, Illinois foreclosure defense attorney, Rick Rogers of the Rogers Law Group, used the advantages of reverse mortgages to save his clients homes from foreclosure... and save their retirement, as well.

One of his clients, a 75 year-old woman, came to Rick's firm with two mortgages on her home... a first for about $40,000 and a second for roughly $200,000. In truth, she couldn't afford either one. Rather than trying to get her loans modified or fight the foreclosure through bankruptcy or other means, Rick turned to the idea of using a reverse mortgage to save her home... and leave her with no mortgage payments whatsoever.

"At 75 years old," Rick explains, "she was able to borrow about 65 percent of her home's current market value. Her home appraised for $200,000, so that gave her $130,000 with which to pay off the $40,000 first mortgage, and then we were able to show the holder of the second lien that it was in their best interests to accept the $90,000 remaining as total satisfaction of her second loan. She went from being at risk of losing her home to foreclosure to living in her home with no mortgage payments for the rest of her life. Pretty cool outcome, if you ask me... and I know she would agree."

Rogers Law Group used the same strategy later in the year when a client came into the firm with an $820,000 mortgage that was severely underwater... the home appraised for approximately $350,000. Her lawyer was able to help her secure a reverse mortgage of $270,000, which the servicer saw as being the best they were going to do after the costs of foreclosing and liquidating the property as an REO.''