Dwight Stewart wrote:
"N2EY" wrote:

Actually, now that I think about it, there is a
certain twisted logic to it. In general, people
are living longer now, so the chances of
someone actually paying off the mortgage is
better than before. Conversely, if the person
dies, the mortgage company gets their money
quickly, from the estate.

On top of all this, such policies insure that the
mortgage companies don't have to worry
about claims of age discrimination.



Or, even better, if the mortgage isn't paid off, the mortgage company can
foreclose and resell the house for a very tidy profit. That alone is enough
to attract many mortgage companies to the elderly.

It's not as lucrative as you make it sound, Dwight. Also, these people
are reasonably well off, retiring with money equivalent to upper middle
class or better.



This may also be why some
mortgage companies actually seem to seek out those who will likely not fully
pay off a mortgage (excessive debt, a history of bad credit, or whatever).
After the mortgagor has partially paid down the amount owed on the property,
the mortgage company can foreclose and retain the property for a much lower
amount than they would have paid in an outright purchase.

Hmm, there are some places I've seen that seem to cater to those
without stellar credit ratings, but they are places like
furniture/appliance/electronics rental places. Plus deadbeats have a
tendency to default pretty quickly, so a mortgage company would have a
real nuisance on thie hands.

- Mike KB3EIA -

"Mike Coslo" wrote:

It's not as lucrative as you make it sound, Dwight.
Also, these people are reasonably well off, retiring
with money equivalent to upper middle class or
better. (snip)


I have no idea how lucrative it is. An acquaintance (hard to call this guy
a friend) works for a mortgage company and just loves to talk about the
shady side of that industry. The company he works for (a nation-wide
franchise chain) just switched to more agressive foreclosure practices and,
based on the stories he tells, I most certainly would not want to be a
customer of that company. Of course, this company has always had
questionable (in my opinion) foreclosure practices. He told me years ago
(late 80's, early 90's) that, mainly because of increasing property values,
it was far more profitable to foreclose on older properties than to maintain
the mortgage. As such, the company used every opportunity to foreclose on
those mortgages. Today, according to him, long term mortgage foreclosure
offers the most gain. Therefore, they now actively seek those who have the
greatest possibility of foreclosure years from now, such as the elderly,
those with speading habits that suggest possible credit problems down the
road, and so on. Now, since I don't work in that industry, I have no idea if
this is entirely true or even widespread. But, I've seen enough written
about these types of practices to suggest there is at least some truth to
it.


Dwight Stewart (W5NET)

http://www.qsl.net/w5net/

"Dwight Stewart" wrote in message
link.net...
"Mike Coslo" wrote:

It's not as lucrative as you make it sound, Dwight.
Also, these people are reasonably well off, retiring
with money equivalent to upper middle class or
better. (snip)


I have no idea how lucrative it is. An acquaintance (hard to call this
guy
a friend) works for a mortgage company and just loves to talk about the
shady side of that industry. The company he works for (a nation-wide
franchise chain) just switched to more agressive foreclosure practices
and,
based on the stories he tells, I most certainly would not want to be a
customer of that company. Of course, this company has always had
questionable (in my opinion) foreclosure practices. He told me years ago
(late 80's, early 90's) that, mainly because of increasing property
values,
it was far more profitable to foreclose on older properties than to
maintain
the mortgage. As such, the company used every opportunity to foreclose on
those mortgages. Today, according to him, long term mortgage foreclosure
offers the most gain. Therefore, they now actively seek those who have the
greatest possibility of foreclosure years from now, such as the elderly,
those with speading habits that suggest possible credit problems down the
road, and so on. Now, since I don't work in that industry, I have no idea
if
this is entirely true or even widespread. But, I've seen enough written
about these types of practices to suggest there is at least some truth to
it.

The key to being successful is having some way of estimating who would be in
trouble approximately 5 years or more down the road not the person who is
currently in trouble or on the ragged edge of currently being in trouble.
Then the property has had time to appreciate enough to be able to turn a
profit.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE