How to Add a Second Name to a Reverse Mortgage

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Bob Dixon, and I'm better known as Mr. Reverse Mortgage, and I'm a former HUD agency counselor for reverse mortgages. Now the question today is, how do I add a second name to a reverse mortgage? Now this seems it would be something pretty simple to do. But you have to remember that a reverse mortgage is based on the age of the youngest borrower, so this throws in all kinds of questions. If they're older, it's just a matter of calling up the register and transfer company or the agency that's handling the paperwork for your reverse mortgage and ask what their process is to add somebody onto the reverse mortgage. Now if they're younger, again, the calculation, this is going to change a lot of things. It's going to change what's available in your credit line, it's going to lower that amount. And in almost all cases you're going to have to refinance your reverse mortgage. And that's why it's very important when a husband and wife is getting a reverse mortgage, and she's not quite old enough or he's not quite old enough and you go ahead and get a reverse mortgage, to add her to protect their interest on that home in the future, you're going to have to refinance and pay those fees over again, and that's pretty expensive. So that's one of the few times when I counsel people that they may want to wait. Now sometimes you can't wait and you're going headed towards foreclosure or you have a hardship, and you need to get that reverse mortgage done right away. As long as you save enough equity in the credit line to be able to finance this, it shouldn't be a problem. But let be known that you're going to have those fees and a lot of the same fees over again. Now you want to go back and talk to your mortgage company and see if they'll wave some of those fees that you've already paid in the past, just might be able to go through it. And if it's been a relatively short time you may be able to able to save on things like the appraisal or the HUD counseling, depending on the situation. Again, you're going to have to go back and probably refinance to add another name to your reverse mortgage. Again, my name is Bob Dixon, and I'm Mr. Reverse Mortgage, and thanks again."