Schools
REVERSE MORTGAGES
PAGE 10 | THE VILLAGER • May 21, 2020
Bob Muni
Senior Loan Officer Reverse mortgage specialist NMLS#719030
I hope you have been gleaning some good information the past few weeks. It is my hope that education will provide the basis for an accurate assessment and informed decisions.
As I have said in previous articles, FHA has made many positive changes to better protect homeowners. Yet Reverse Mortgages have continued to suffer from many myths, misconceptions, ignorance and bad information. Some of the most common myths and misconceptions are: 1) The bank owns my home. Very simply…NO! The bank does not own your home; you do. Just like any mortgage, a Deed of Trust is attached to the property. Only the owner is on the deed. When you leave your home permanently, you pay the mortgage off and keep the difference. 2) When you have a reverse mortgage, you don’t have the option to sell your home. This is not true. It is just a mortgage. Like any mortgage, you have to pay it off when you sell. But, you CAN sell. 3) It will affect my Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid or pensions. Again, the answer is NO. The proceeds from a HECM are not considered income. They are not taxable, and do not affect the means testing for income. If handled properly, the assets from a HECM can also benefit someone receiving Medicaid for Healthcare. You should consult with Medicaid or seek legal advice to validate the appropriate ways to receive the funds. 4) I will not have anything to leave my heirs. That is not universally true. Since HUD made adjustments to the program in the past few years, projections show under almost all normal circumstances there will likely be equity left in the home well into the future. The loan balance does grow, but house historically increase in value as well. Home values nationally have grown an average of 3-5% annually over the past 45+ years even with the severe market highs and lows. When the house is sold or passed on to heirs, just like with a regular mortgage, you pay the loan balance and keep the difference. However, one feature is a huge benefit. A reverse mortgage is a NONRECOURSE LOAN. That means if you end
up owing more than your house is worth, you and your heirs are held harmless. There is nothing more owed. 5) A Reverse Mortgage is only a last resort. This is not true. More and more financial planners are seeing the need to incorporate the wealth in the home as part of a prudent financial plan to provide and extend all the retirement funds available. Managed correctly, people end up with more money to pass on to their heirs using housing wealth than when they do not. 6) What if you have a $1,000,000+ home? There was a time when there were no products to assist folks with homes approaching and well over a million dollars in value. Today there are a variety of proprietary (non-HUD) products allowing assistance well into the multi-million dollar values. This mirrors the forward mortgage idea of Jumbo Loans. There is a Reverse Mortgage market for high value homes. WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR A REVERSE MORTGAGE? 1) One borrower/spouse must be 62 years or older. The age of the younger is used to calculate the funds available, even if he/she is younger than 62. 2) Must be on your primary residence. You can own other homes, but you can only use a RM on your primary residence, defined as living there 6 months+1 day per year. 3) There are financial requirements (income vs outgo) to make sure you have enough funds to pay your taxes, insurance, HOA and maintenance. Often poor credit history can be remedied. 4) HUD approved counseling by an independent 3rd party/agency is required. 5) You must continue to live in the home as your primary residence, pay your taxes, HOA (if relevant) and homeowners insurance, as well as maintain your home. It really is much easier and less intimidating than most imagine. We make the process as smooth as possible, too. If you have any questions or would like additional information, please reach out to me. Thank you for taking the time to read these articles. Please let me know if you have any topics or questions you would like to address. Next week I will have some MAJOR NEWS for you. Stay Tuned. Top Flite Financial, Inc. 9800 Mount Pyramid Ct. #400 Englewood CO 80112 NMLS # 4181 303-588-1335 bmuni55@gmail.com
LPS graduations will take place in a “drive by” fashion where a stage will be erected in the parking lots of each high school, such as this one at Arapahoe High School in Centennial.
LPS Superintendent: Twist on inperson graduation ceremonies, no hurry on classroom decision BY JESSICA ROE BEHIND THE SCENES STAFF WRITER
Public health orders have put the pinch on traditional cap and gown stage walk graduations, but Dr. Brian Ewert, Superintendent of Littleton Public Schools, just announced at the most recent Board of Education meeting that in-person graduations are going to happen anyway. The only catch? The graduations are taking place in parking lots. Decked out in their cap and gown, each senior at all four of the district’s high schools - Arapahoe, Heritage, Littleton and Options - will be invited to drive one decorated vehicle through their high school’s parking lot, where a graduation stage will be erected, complete with their principal and a professional photographer. The ceremonies will take place the week of June 8th. “We know there has been lots of anxiety in the community, I’ve lost a lot of sleep over what graduation could look like or what it will look like,” said Ewert, who has been meeting weekly with TriCounty Health, but ultimately determined that since Tri-County can only read data from today and then project out two-to-four weeks in advance, LPS had to make a decision and not keep families waiting any longer. “This will not be without controversy,” said Ewert. “This, I think, is the very best solution. We think we can do this, and do it well, and really be honoring the kids who are graduating and all of their accomplishments.” “It may not be the traditional ceremony, but it will be a memorable one!” said Clay Alba, Director of Secondary Education. The same week of the in-person events, each school will publish a graduation video for the class of 2020, highlighting each graduate’s accomplishments. The Binning Family Foundation, a Littleton based nonprofit, has taken on the work of producing the graduation videos, profiling the nearly 1,500 seniors. “Simply put, this is a large undertaking, but we feel honored to play a small role to recognize our community’s amazing high school seniors and their families during this very unusual time. We hope that these graduation traditions, albeit virtual, bring happiness, a sense of accomplishment and closure for the class of 2020,” said
Sean O’Shea, Binning Family Foundation Executive Director. “Our film team is working with staff from each school to complete their respective videos. It’s definitely a group effort!” O’Shea has several LPS kids of his own. One has graduated, two will be in high school in the fall, and one is a senior, among this special class of students he and his team is profiling. Looking ahead to the fall, Ewert announced to the board, “I am in no huge rush to jump to any final solution around next fall quite yet,” said Ewert. The fact TriCounty Health cannot predict conditions more than a month in advance, Ewert said he expects to present the Board of Education with a decision about in-person learning, or continued distance learning, near the end of July. If students are allowed back in the classroom, Ewert assured the board that if classroom learning is allowed, for parents who were still uncomfortable allowing their children to return to school, there will be some sort of model where distance learning could be continued remotely. Additionally, LPS will have several plans in place, should there be a COVID-19 breakout in one school, for instance, requiring a 48-hour closure, or a 14-day closure, and so on. Essentially, from here on out, the LPS system will be set up to immediately pivot into the distance learning model. Due to budget constraints, the board voted to not renew the contracts of 45 teachers and administrators under probationary contract following the 2019-2020 school year. Lastly, the board was asked to evaluate a proposed change in policy for students taking college level courses while in high school, also known as “concurrent enrollment”. Previously, these courses were only offered to juniors and seniors, and the maximum number of courses they were each allowed to take at a time is two. With the proposed change, all students from freshmen to seniors can take concurrent enrollment if they qualify, such as Advanced Placement (AP) courses, and they can take as many as they qualify for, if they so choose. To stay informed on LPS news, visit littletonpublicschools.net. The Board of Education next meets on Thursday, May 28th. To watch the board meeting live, simply click on the BOE icon, scroll to the bottom left of the page, and click, “Watch Live” at 6:30 p.m.
