The $1,739-a-month he earns from the Social Security retirement program and teaching piano barely cover his bills, said the retired graphic designer. When an email alerted him to the changes in early September, he picked up the phone and made a counseling appointment, a legal requirement for the loans. He wanted to sign up, he said, before the new rules took effect and reduced the amount he can borrow.
"I don't want to buy a yacht or vacation around the world. I need a financial product that will give me an extra four or five hundred dollars a month to pay the bills." Those bills, he said, add up to about $1,500 per month.
Many counseling offices were booked through September.
Patrick Noonan, housing coordinator at the Colorado Housing Connects group, said some seniors even offered to pay money for what are free counseling services just to get in ahead of the cutoff.
"There's a good percentage of folks that would not even qualify after these changes," said Cliff Auerswald, president of All Reverse Mortgage Inc, a lender in Orange County, California, adding that his company's application requests have more than doubled since HUD's announcement.
"After October 2nd, we're not even talking to those people, really," Auerswald said.
Life Revamped
The new rules dashed Evette Bissett's hopes to make a bid on an Austin, Texas home with a reverse mortgage.