I was speaking with our data provider a little while ago and she told me that there were currently about 500 people in Arizona who were over the age of 62, had a loan-to-value ratio of 60% or less and were currently late on their mortgage payments.

In this month’s National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association magazine, there is a section titled “When A Reverse Mortgage Protects Against Foreclosure” and it gives a few testimonials from people who have had borrowers that were saved from foreclosure by getting an FHA-insured HECM reverse mortgage.

“I was able to save a client’s home from foreclosure. She had very little income and was a widow. Her home was all that she possessed.” – As told by Michael Kidder, Security Mortgage Corp. Okemos, MI.

If you know a senior who is facing foreclosure, take the time to find out if an FHA reverse mortgage can help them and save them from having to move out of the home that they love.

If you are senior who is thinking about getting an FHA reverse mortgage, you are required to attend a counseling session with a HUD-approved counselor prior to getting a reverse mortgage.

The counseling session can be done at your home, in a group setting, or even over the phone and usually lasts between an hour and two hours.

Some of the questions that you can expect the reverse mortgage counselor to answer:

• What is a reverse mortgage?
• What are the eligibility requirements for a reverse mortgage?
• How does a reverse mortgage impact your equity in your home?
• What are the fees of a reverse mortgage?
• What are the options in how the funds from a reverse mortgage can be paid to you?
• How will the reverse mortgage be repaid?
• What is the impact of a reverse mortgage on your social security benefits?
• What is the impact of a reverse mortgage on your heirs?

You should also expect the counselor to provide you with a reverse mortgage calculator of some sort to help you determine the cost of your reverse mortgage loan.

I haven’t seen a situation where a senior came away from a reverse mortgage counseling session with more questions than they went in with — which means by and large, it appears to be working!  These HUD-approved counselors seem to be a good tool for seniors to get their questions answered from an independent third party for a reasonable fee (the counseling session typically costs about $125).