Anthony & Marie
- 80 & 75 years old
- Arlington
Anthony M. (age 80) and Marie M. (age 75) are husband and wife and reside in Arlington. They’ve lived in the same home for 33 years. Anthony suffers from Parkinson’s disease which has impaired his ability to speak and move about. Marie suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and her memory is failing (For this reason, a guardian was appointed to represent her interest). When Anthony and Marie came to the H.O.M.E. program, they had exhausted most of their savings and were in need of assistance to meet monthly expenses. Their major expense was in-home care costs which ran $3,333 a month. In order to pay for in-home care, Anthony and Marie obtained a term reverse mortgage. The term reverse mortgage provided a monthly payment of $3,500 for a period of 3 years and one month. In addition, $32,500 of their debt was paid off from proceeds of the loan. At the end of the loan term, Anthony and Marie will have 40% of their home equity for remainder of life planning.

Mrs. H
- 70 years old
- Dorchester
A 70 year old Dorchester resident, Mrs. H. faced imminent foreclosure. Of Haitian descent, she had difficulty communicating with her mortgage servicer located in Kentucky. After several failed attempts to clear up a misunderstanding regarding a variable interest rate increase, Mrs. H. decided to continue paying at the old monthly rate. Rather than contact Mrs. H. to straighten out the discrepancy, the servicer chose to initiate foreclosure proceedings. According to Mrs. H., the servicer repeatedly ignored her pleas to explain the reason for the rate increase. After visiting Mrs. H. at her home and getting to know her, H.O.M.E was able to develop a strategy which effectively prevented the foreclosure. The H.O.M.E. program referred Mrs. H. to a local lender who provided her with a 30-year refinancing package that paid off expensive credit card debt and put her on firm financial footing.

Mr. G
- 84 years old
- South Yarmouth
Mr. G. is a 76-year old widower who resides in South Yarmouth. When H.O.M.E. began counseling him, he was in imminent danger of foreclosure. He was paying four loans, three of which were secured by his home while the other was a truck loan. Mr. G. purchased the truck with hopes of starting a landscaping business to supplement his income which exceeded his monthly expenses by $617  month. When Mr. G. lost his wife, $2,000 of her income was no longer available to him. To prevent foreclosure, H.O.M.E. negotiated a refinance of three of the loans with a local community lender. In addition, H.O.M.E. convinced Mr. G. to sell his truck which eliminated a $382 monthly payment. Mr. G. successfully avoided foreclosure and will be able to save several hundred dollars monthly.

Mr. & Mrs. M
- 80 & 82 years old
- Wareham
Mr. and Mrs. M. live in Wareham and both suffer from diabetes while experiencing great difficulty climbing stairs. They seriously considered moving to Florida to conserve money but decided against it. They would like to remain in their home for the rest of their lives. Because of their physical limitations, however, Mr. and Mrs. M. need to make some alterations to their home. Specifically, they need to buy a chairlift and move their washer/dryer from the basement to the upstairs. H.O.M.E. referred them to a local development corporation which provided a grant to pay for the chairlift and alterations. In addition to the grant, Mr. and Mrs. M. decided to obtain a Modifiable In-Home Care Reverse Mortgage (MIRCRM) which will provide them with a supplement of $400 a month for 11.1 years. The MIRCRM may be modified in the event that their circumstances change. For instance, if they need in-home care, they may have their monthly supplement increased to meet their increased needs.

Jean
- 81 years old
- Hancock
Jean is an 81 year old widow who is presently living in a 5-bedroom house in Hancock. She enjoys karate and loves to ride her bike. However, her Social Security check alone was not enough to meet her expenses and she would often have just a can of soup for dinner. Although she does not need the space, she was not yet ready to sell since her house was in need of repair and would not present well in the marketplace. Through the H.O.M.E. program, Jean obtained a term reverse mortgage from one of H.O.M.E.’s local lenders. With the proceeds, she repaired her front room which is now leak-free and newly-painted. A new roof is planned for the spring and needed repairs have given her new hope. She now meets her expenses and lives a better quality of life. Although Jean wants to eventually move, she needed to do repairs to preserve equity and ensure the best price for when she sells.

Mr. & Mrs. S
- 85 & 78 years old
- Northeastern Massachusetts
Largely because of financial problems, Mr. & Mrs. S. seriously considered selling their home where they had lived for over 40 years. They had recently taken out an equity loan to pay for some home repairs and the purchase of a car. They also had $15,000 in credit card debt and over $2,000 in back utility bills. Despite their financial difficulties, they very much wanted to remain in their home. After two sessions with a H.O.M.E. counselor, Mr. & Mrs. S. chose an open-ended reverse mortgage. The loan paid off their debts, provided them with $400 per month to enable them to meet their ongoing expenses, and also provided an initial line of credit for $61,500. They intend to use the line of credit only for occasional large expenses such as future home repairs.

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