In Chicago, a reverse mortgage -scammer left a permanent scar
“(Diamond) has completely destroyed our lives,” Lashon Minter Williams told the outlet.
For aging homeowners who want to tap into their equity for repairs or other financial needs, it is a sobering memory of what can go wrong. The report took a deeper dive into the advantages and disadvantages of inverted mortgages, and for those who need financing to carry out the required home repairs, it described how local organizations “try to offer exemption without depriving seniors from the possibility of passing on their homes to the next generation.”
South Side Weekly analyzed the number of reverse mortgages in the Windy City and the surrounding Cook County in the past decade. It turned out that local activity has followed the national trend of decreasing use.
National data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Show that the origin of the Home Vermoning Hypotheek (HECM) originally fell from 115,000 in 2009 to around 26,500 in 2024.
The number of HECM -originations in Cook County Kromp from 805 to 133 in 2024 in 2014. But of the nearly 4,000 federal assured mortgages that were eliminated in the province during this period, almost half was within the city boundaries of Chicago – and most of these were in neighborhoods on the South and West.
The common thread is that houses in these areas tend to be older and more immediate need for repairs – something that has regularly exploited Diamant. The outlet also noted that these neighborhoods are ‘predominantly black and latino’, so that the national trend is observed in which most of the reverse mortgage lenders are white.
South Side Weekly spoke with lawyer Sam Tenenbaum, who represented many victims of Diamond. While the perpetrator is behind bars, the people he operated are not made full financially.
The lenders of the fraudulent mortals were never reversed or held responsible “because real exemption would have come aside by putting these mortgages aside,” Tenenbaum said.
He further said that although a reverse mortgage can be justified by the income of an individual, stock levels or their phase of life, “it is simply not a good idea” if the borrower is planning to give their property to heirs.
The report also mentioned a proposal that would offer state -based subsidies of up to $ 40,000 to “homeowners with a low income for small rehabilitation services to retain their houses.” The law would apply to everyone aged 62 and older – or 55 years and older if they have a disability – if they have lived at home for at least 10 years.
Illinois HB 5506, also known as the Senior Home Preservation Program Act, was introduced last year, but was laid down in the state legislator. It was not re -introduced this year.
