Hello Frank,If your sister had no legal right to act on your mother's account, it's the same as if she went to her bank and took money out that didn't belong to her. She falsified information to take money that did not belong to her.I am not an attorney and do not know what to do now, so I suggest you consult an attorney. I don't know what your sister did with the funds or if they were used for your mom, but this could be a very delicate situation, and I would not want to be in your position with the family members involved. It's bad enough when family members argue over the level of care that should be given to seniors in their charge, but it would be even worse if your sister took funds from your mom meant for her care and living arrangements.

Hello Lyn,Some states require counseling on every transaction, and those states require borrowers to counsel again with every transaction, but some will allow you to refinance the existing loan based on HUD's rules which will allow a refinance using the existing counseling if it is within 5 years of the original counseling. Suppose you have completed the process and are ready to sign the loan documents. In that case, the lender has already gotten your case number, and it sounds like they are ready to close the loan. If you are concerned, you can double-check with your lender, but it sounds like you live in a state that will allow them to use the original counseling certificate as long as it is within a given period of time from the date of the original issue (HUD's maximum is 5 years).

Good morning, I assume your father is competent and that you are using the Power of Attorney (POA) just because of his absence? If so, Dad must still do the counseling and he must stay on the loan and there are some documents that he will be required to sign (which can be sent to the embassy at the country where he is). That does bring up the question though of occupancy. When you say he will not be returning any time soon, will he be occupying the property? His absence, if not temporary, could determine whether he would be eligible as a reverse mortgage borrower. And if my assumption that he is competent is not correct, there would be additional requirements not covered here should it be determined that he is not of sound mind.

Hello Anthony, There are rules about the use of a Power of Attorney (POA). HUD's rules for the use of a POA are below:

POWER OF ATTORNEY/CONSERVATORSHIP GUIDELINES

A. Mortgage Loan Application

1. Borrowers with legal competency:

a. All borrowers must sign mortgage loan application.

b. Mortgage loan application may not be executed by power

of attorney.

2. Borrowers lacking legal competency:

a. Incompetent borrower may not sign the mortgage loan

application.

b. Court-appointed conservator or guardian may execute

any necessary documents, including the mortgage loan

application. The lender must provide evidence that

the conservator or guardian has authority to obligate

the borrower.

c. An "agent" or "attorney in fact" holding a durable

power of attorney specifically designed to survive

incapacity and avoid the need for court proceedings,

may execute any necessary documents, including the

mortgage loan application.

(1) To be valid, a durable power of attorney must be

prepared when the "principal" is competent to

understand the nature and significance of the

instrument.

(2) The durable power of attorney must comply with

state laws regarding signatures, notarization,

witnesses, and recordation.

B. Closing Documents

Power of attorney (durable or otherwise) may be used for

closing documents. Any power of attorney must comply with State law and

allow for the Note to be legally enforced in that jurisdiction.

C. Counseling Session

For borrowers lacking legal competency, the counseling session

may be conducted with an "agent" or "attorney in fact" holding a power of

attorney, or with a court-appointed conservator or guardian.

As you can see, if the borrower is competent, it is much easier with far less documentation required for the borrower to sign the documents on their own (and there will always be some documents the borrower will be required to sign anyway if they are competent). If they are not able to sign, there will be different requirements depending on why they are unable to sign (i.e., whether they lack mental competency or if they have a physical handicap that prevents them from signing). Regardless of what your reasons are for wanted to use a POA, the needs can most likely be met if you just need let your originator know from the start so that they can advise you accurately and be sure that you meet the HUD requirements from counseling to closing of the loan. They will tell you what HUD will allow and require and you can go from there.

Hello Victor, The person holding the POA cannot perform a function considered a "self-servicing act" under the Power of Attorney. I am not an attorney and cannot comment on the legality of such an event, but I can tell you that as a lender we would not accept it and the title companies we have used will not insure such a transaction. The best thing would be if your father could sign a Grant Deed to you on his own. If dad is no longer competent to sign a Grant Deed himself, you would need to have someone else who also has Power of Attorney that gives them authority to sign the Grant Deed or have a court order to change the title for you to be able to use the property for any lending purposes. Again, I am not an attorney and I would encourage you to seek counsel because you may have issues with the sale of the property later if you change the title the way you are suggesting now if a title company feels that there is a cloud on the title as a result and will not insure the title for a new purchaser/lender later.

Hello Robin, You are not under any obligation to do anything. I would suggest that you contact a local real estate professional to get a valuation to see what the most probable selling price of the home would be. If there is no equity in the home, you don't have to sell it at all. You can take all of mom's personal property out of the home and then call the lender and tell them they can have the home back but mom is no longer living in the home and the home is vacant. Tell them you will sign a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure to them as the Power of Attorney to let them take possession immediately because you can no longer maintain the home and follow up everything with a registered letter to the lender. After that, you are not obligated to do anything and the loan is non-recourse so the lender cannot look to you or mom's estate for further funds. And if the real estate agent tells you there is equity still in the home, list it for sale as soon as possible to retain any money still in the home.

Hello Stephen, You do not need to go through any real process, just list the home and sell it! Send the Power of Attorney in now so that the lender will not have any issues with accepting your signature when the time comes for them to issue a Beneficiary's Demand and if mom is able, have her write a letter to them to authorize you to act on her behalf for all matters regarding the loan. This way, nothing will be delayed when the home has sold, and the closing agent must order the payoff demand.

Hello Terry, I am afraid to answer this definitively with the information given so let me say that I am not sure what you mean by "Equity Loan"? Are you referring to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), reverse mortgage, a Home Equity Line of Credit from a bank (HELOC) or a refinance where you withdraw equity from the property? I can tell you that the HUD HECM loan would have required mom to also attend counseling and there are a lot of steps required to even use a Power of Attorney so from your question, it does not sound like the reverse mortgage to me. If it were though, you could not just show up and use a Power of Attorney for that loan. It would need to be approved in advance and the documents must be drawn in a certain way when using a Power of Attorney. If you are referring to a HELOC or any other loan transaction wherein you are withdrawing equity from the property, I cannot answer what the bank will require as we do not work with forward loans. I honestly cannot believe that they would allow you to show up and sign the documents as POA on her signature line and that they too would need to draw the documents differently and may also have some sort of approval for the use of a POA, but you would need to contact the lender to determine that answer.

Hello Cindy, HUD is very explicit about that they require for the use of a Power of Attorney when the borrower is incapacitated and it is for the borrower's, and the entire family protection. There is only one real way to determine that the borrower was of sound mind at the time the Power of Attorney was executed and that is for the attending physician to write the letters stating the onset of the accident or illness that rendered the borrower's incapacitation. You don't necessarily need to have a doctor's letter saying the patient had full mental capacity on a certain date if the attending physician can pinpoint the date that the patient became incapacitated and the Power of Attorney predates that time. It's always easier from a documentation standpoint if the incapacitation of the borrower is the result of an event that has a set time (i.e. an accident on a specific date) but many times the cause is something that happens over time and is not so easy to determine when a borrower lost their ability to handle their own finances. If the borrower did not see a doctor for many years and suddenly was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and unable to make their own decisions, doctors know it is a degenerative situation that probably occurred over a period of time. Without prior visits to the doctor, they would not be able to determine at what point the borrower became incapacitated whereas a person who regularly visits a physician would be able to have a doctor's letter indicating at what point the patient tested at a level that he/she would be considered unable to make their own financial decisions or understand complex transactions. If the individual about whom you are writing falls into the category that no physician can attest to when their testing indicated they had lost the ability to make their own financial decisions, then it would take a court order to continue. There may be other heirs who contest a Power of Attorney if it was completed after incapacity, or in some cases family members who abuse seniors by having them sign documents they do not understand, and others who might contest the transaction without verification that the POA was valid. If there is no doctor's letter to clearly show the Power of Attorney was executed when the borrower retained full capacity, then the family must get a court ordered Conservatorship in order to continue because at that time the lender is protected by the court order allowing the reverse mortgage for the individual borrower.

Hello David,The only way you could do a reverse mortgage with the title solely in your name would be if you were 62 or over and lived in the home as your primary residence. Otherwise, if the loan is for dad and his home, he would need to be on title. You could also be on title as a non-eligible, non-borrowing co-owner and would have to attend counseling and sign off on the loan as well, and the loan would still be due and payable when dad no longer lived in the home, but that is possible as long as the POA meets all of HUD requirements with the required doctors' letters. Otherwise, it would require a court ordered conservatorship to complete the reverse mortgage but then dad would still need to be on title.

Hello Robert, Yes, she can. If she already has a Power of Attorney (POA) in place that was granted prior to her incapacitation, the person to whom she granted the POA can get the loan for her. There would be letters required from her attending physicians to verify that illness that caused the incapacity occurred after the date the POA was granted. If there is no acceptable POA in place at this time, it can still be done but it would take a court-ordered conservancy in which the court specifically approves the reverse mortgage but this typically is not difficult when it is in the borrower's best interest.

Hello Tom, The reverse mortgage would be due and payable when she permanently leaves the home. The home would still belong to your aunt at that time, but the loan would need to be paid in full in order to remain in compliance with the terms of the loan or the loan would be in default and the lender could begin a foreclosure action. The nursing home would only get what you agreed to give them. If you found a home that you liked and their terms were that you had to sign the home over to them for payment for their care, you could certainly do that if that was your choice but it would not negate the fact that the loan was due and payable. Under those circumstances, the house would probably be sold to repay the existing loan. But whether you choose to sign the home over to a nursing home or sell it and use the money to pay for care is totally up to you as your aunts POA. You don't have to agree to give anyone anything.

Hello Delicia, You are their POA which allows you to act in their behalf. Are you also their heir for the property? If so, you have a decision to make when your parents pass. As the heir, you can keep the home, sell the home or you can walk away from the property and let the lender take it. Which choice you make would depend on which option was the most beneficial for you. If there is still equity in the home (the balance owed was smaller than the value of the home), you would have to decide if you want to pay off the loan with money you have or a new loan and keep the property or sell it, pay off the balance and keep the left over funds. If the balance owed was higher than the amount the property was worth, you have a different decision to make. As the heir, you have the right to pay off the loan at the amount owed or 95% of the current value of the home, whichever is less or you can just walk away and let the lender take the property back and the lender can look to no other assets to repay the loan. If there are other heirs involved, I strongly suggest that you speak with them in advance and all of you make a game plan so that you are all on the same page when the time comes, and everyone knows what that plan is. If mom and dad are still in the decision-making process, they can communicate their wishes so that there are no questions about what they wanted either. As the POA, you are not responsible to pay anything on the loan, but it may be to everyone's benefit to research your options in advance so that you don't lose any equity for which you were entitled either.

Hello Michelle, I'm sorry, this would fall into the category of legal advice and for that, you really need to speak to an attorney. This does not pertain to a reverse mortgage but rather to the authority of a person who has been granted Power of Attorney (POA) and the rights of tenants in the area where the property is located. Some POA's grant limited rights and some grant broad authority to act in almost limitless manners on behalf of the individual who granted the authority. Even then, states have laws that dictate the rights of tenants that the owner or the owner's POA still must follow. I am afraid you would need to speak to an attorney to receive the correct legal advice as to where your situation would fall in that spectrum.

Hello Susan, I'm afraid that is a question you would have to ask a local attorney or possibly a real estate broker with the assistance of a title company. There are several different ways a POA can be written and it would most definitely depend, among other things the way the POA grants authority and under what circumstances. I'm sure they would want to review the document before they could answer your question but at any rate, this is not related to a reverse mortgage loan and therefore, not something about which we can really advise.