Reverse Mortgage Question, please help.?

NO. Your mother-in-law can let anyone she wants live there. She is the owner of the house and it's up to her. If the county or municipality has ordinances about occupancy, and they well may, that's a different story. But the reverse mortgage is just a mortgage. She owns the house and it's up to her who lives there. I can't believe you would even consider reporting her to the lender.

There are a lot of misconceptions about reverse mortgages. They're just mortgages; no one is trying to steal your home from you. We -- yes, this is my business - don't take the title, as many people think. The only way she could lose the home is if she lets it really really run down, if she stops paying taxes or insurance. That's about it. She doesn't have to pay it back until she either sells it or otherwise permanently leaves the home.

Someone above said she'd lose the home when she dies because of the structure of a reverse mortgage. That's not correct. She can still will her home to anyone she wants. The heirs have the same options they would with any other type of mortgage...pay it off with either existing funds or from the proceeds of the sale of the home, or refinance it into their own names. If they sell it, any proceeds in excess of the mortgage go to the heirs. If the market value of the home is less than the balance of the mortgage, they don't have to find the rest of the money. Reverse mortgages are non-recourse loans. You can't sell a $200,000 house to your cousin Joe for $40,000, but if you owe us $220,000 and the market value/most you can get for it is $200,000, that's fine.

Most mortgages have a call feature when the last owner dies.

The costs for reverse mortgages have dropped DRAMATICALLY over the last few weeks. Most lenders have eliminated the fixed rate servicing fees as well as dramatically reduced (even eliminated in some cases) the origination fee. Fixed rate products can be found with interest rates as low as 4.99% in some cases as well. Definitely check into the product further and get a quote from a respectable lender or broker. You may be pleasantly surprised at the numbers. These loans are becoming much more affordable and pricing seems to improve every week. If your parents were going to take out a fixed rate product, they could eliminate their current mortgage rates and probably receive additional money in a lump sum. There are many other payment options besides just the lump sum distribution. If money in their pocket is more valuable than continually shoveling it into their home mortgage payments every month, I'd suggest you look into it further.

The reverse mortgage is a financial instrument. It has nothing to do with who lives in the home.

So sorry, you cannot use the mortgage company as the bad guys and get those people out. However, you (or her whole family if they can) should sit down with MIL and talk to her about her plans, particularly as it pertains to the house and her tenants. Don't wait until she dies and then discover the 'leeches' as you call them have somehow talked MIL into something she didn't really intend.

Well, I dont think she will get in trouble for having other people living in the home. As long as they are not on title to the property she should have nothing to worry about. That said, she will lose her home regardless when she passes away, because of the structure of a reverse mortgage. But I am assuming everyone was aware of this stipulation when the reverse mortgage was taken out.

To the best of my knowledge, the reverse mortgage is for her only. Once she is gone the company gets the home; doesn't matter how many leeches there are.

A reverse mortage is where you take out a mortage to get at the equity in your house.....just another form of a heloc.

And just like a Heloc (Home Equity Line of Credit) they can't dictate what the home owner does with their home. So no your mother in law can't lose her home unless she stops repayments.

As for the leeches....that's tough. I'm sorry but the mortage can't help you there.

The answer to your primary question (can others live there) would be contained in the documents that were signed with the reverse mortgage company. If your mother will let you, please review them.