AARP SUIT TARGETS FEDERAL RULE CHANGE ON REVERSE MORTGAGES

AARP filed a suit challenging a federal decision on reverse mortgages that is causing some widows and widowers to lose their homes. According to a New York Times article, the suit claims a rule change by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development imposes tougher requirements on surviving spouses and heirs than on strangers, Under the change in the rule, homes with reverse mortgages that are worth less than the loan balance can be sold to strangers for less than the mortgage balance, while surviving spouses not named on the reverse mortgage must pay the full loan amount.