Third party should check on annuity idea

Dear Bruce: What reverse mortgage company will keep paying you on your reverse mortgage when it is already upside down. I'm sure a value was agreed upon and the payments will come until this amount is reached. Credit cards don't work when they're maxed out.

— G.G., via e-mail

Dear G.G.: You raise an interesting point. Reverse mortgages work like this, assuming there are no other mortgages on a piece of property when making the application and these can be dealt with as well. The mortgage company agrees to pay you in lump sum or installments of fixed amount of money. This fixed amount ordinarily gives them a very substantial cushion with regard to the overall value of the property, perhaps 50 or 60 percent of the then value. They are committed until you pass away or leave the premises allowing you to stay there as long as the insurance and taxes are paid. The fact that their investment is upside down is of no interest to you. The person with the mortgage (since they are "stuck" with it) ordinarily, they have allowed enough cushion there so they are not in jeopardy. The major jeopardy is, if the person who is granted the mortgage lives an ordinate amount of time, since the amount loaned is in part predicated on the life expectancy when the mortgage is issued. Your analogy about credit cards while seemingly makes sense, does not apply. Once the mortgage is issued, as long as the mortgagee meets their obligations, the mortgage company is on it.

Dear Bruce: In 1965, I was stationed in Fort Lewis, Wash. I was shipped in August of that year. I had a credit union account at McCord Air Force Base Credit Union. I had a small savings account and before I shipped elsewhere I withdrew all but about $25. After all the time that went by, does the account close and go to the state property fund?

— B.O., via e-mail

Dear B.O.: It's coming up on 50 years since you returned safely home from Vietnam. After a period of time when there is no activity by the owner of the account (you), the credit union, bank or other agencies obliged to advertise the account on some local vehicle and if it's not claimed, the money is turned over to an estate. Any interest that has been accrued up until that time also goes to the estate. You can always claim for recovering those funds but the moment the state receives the money, the interest meter is turned off permanently. There is maybe $20-$30 bucks there that you could apply for. You can simply write to the Escheat fund in the state of Washington and ask them if there are funds held in your name. Don't expect to get rich, but it's not a bad investment.Dear Bruce: Long time reader, but I don't remember you addressing tax liens. We (my wife and I) currently live in an apartment that, due to the owner's economic problems, may be foreclosed on in a year. We have no debts. Both of us are disabled, 65 years old. Is buying a house through a tax lien a viable option?

— Paul, via e-mail

Dear Paul: Ordinarily, a tax lien refers to paying the real estate taxes on the property. This does not in anyway obviate mortgages, liens, etc. against the property. The state laws vary but in most cases you will have to pay off several years of taxes and then start the foreclosure process. Generally speaking, this is a technical area where there are people who do this on a regular basis as an occupation and frequently they prosper. I would not recommend this kind of activity to you. If you wish, you can search on your own and see of there is a mortgage on the property and there is a foreclosure possibly by the lender. You can contact and ask; they may or may not respond. Simply fooling around with tax liens in your circumstance is a game I would not want.



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