NY Times says Reverse Mortgages can be a great tool

Over the weekend, the New York Times published an article about how more retirees are exploring reverse mortgages as they face declining income, falling home values, and dwindling savings from Wall Street’s meltdown. In The Reverse Gear, journalist Vivian Marino writes that as mortgage financing gets increasingly tougher to obtain, reverse mortgages continue to look more appealing.

“Many seniors have been able to use reverse mortgages to avoid delinquency or foreclosure, and to help fund their retirement,” said Regina M. Lowrie, a former chairwoman of the Mortgage Bankers Association and the chief executive of Vision Mortgage Capital in Montgomeryville, Pa.
One of the bright spots of the article comes from Martin Shenkman, a New Jersey based attorney who specializes in estate and tax planning.

Shenkman considers reverse mortgages “a great tool, when the right circumstances exist.” He even acknowledges that the reverse mortgage industry has come a long way in attracting business and burnishing its reputation, which was full of stories from years past of lenders preying on the elderly.