"I mean it just literally pulled the rug out from underneath me," said Bissett, 68, who left Texas 11 years ago to care for her ailing mother in Denver.
When her mother died, she inherited the home but could not afford the bills. "My monthly income and my monthly expenses are pretty close together right now,'" the retired accountant said.
Before the new changes, Bissett planned to take out a reverse mortgage that would have allowed her to purchase a home in Texas, where she spent most of her life, using funds from the loan and the sale of her Colorado home.
Under the new terms, the amount Bissett can borrow dwindles by about $32,000 to $82,000. "That does not leave me in a position where I can do it," Bissett said, adding that she has no family to fall back on. "I've burned out my calculator just trying to figure out what my options are."
The net worth of 65 to 74 year olds, Bissett's age group, has declined over the last three years on median basis, counter to trends in other age groups, according to a Federal Reserve survey published in September.
"I really was depending on that loan to put me in a better financial position, and now I can't do it," Bissett said. "I've got to revamp my life all over again."
This article was provided by Reuters.