Let me start by saying I don’t know really know what a reverse mortgage is, but I know what it sounds like it is. A mortgage is a loan from a bank that allows you to purchase a house, so it sounds like a reverse mortgage is, in some way, the undoing of that process. It’s not that big of a leap, and clearly I’m not the only one who thinks so. Why else would AAG have converted the bulk of their advertising budget to begging us to believe them? What I love so much about this is how Tom Selleck perfectly captures, what must be, the exasperated tone of the AAG executives. “Guys, guys, it’s not a trick to take your house! It’s just, it’s just a fucking loan, ok!? Come on!”
My suspicion is there’s some coded language in here. Paying it back “when you leave your home” probably means, “when you die,” and indeed, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau informs us that the loan will need to be paid back once you have moved into that great retirement community in the sky. Likewise your children, heirs, or surviving partner is responsible for repaying the loan if they wish to keep the house, otherwise the house gets sold.
Listen, if it’s true what Quigley tells us, and a reverse mortgage is NOT a way for the bank to take your home, then they should have called it something else. Did no one focus-group this term? It’s an easy fix. The most common type of reverse mortgage is a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. Just call it that! That’s the kind of impenetrable jargon we’ve come to expect from the industry with whom we entrust all of our worldly assets. The word “reverse” is what’s causing problems. It sounds tricky. Like opposite day. No one likes opposite day.
“Hey, I overheard the VP’s talking in the parking lot. They’re considering you for a reverse promotion.”
“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It does not.”
criticalmush.com 