HOPE For Seniors Who Need Help with Housing

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Retirement is often a time for downsizing. Maintaining a large home with empty bedrooms requires time and money that might be more productively devoted to enhancing a retirement lifestyle.

Retirement can also be a time of reduced income. While more retirees than ever are finding new ways to supplement their retirement income, many find that their post-retirement housing options are limited by their savings (including the proceeds of a home sale) and their Social Security benefits. Only 56% of non-government workers participate in a private pension or retirement plan. That leaves a large percentage of retirees with relatively few resources that they can devote to housing.

The Financial Burden of Housing

While most older adults own their residence, some of them are underwater — that is, the market value of their home is less than their mortgage balance. That disparity makes it difficult to downsize, as they have no equity to invest in a new home even if they manage to sell their existing home.

Homeowners who purchased their home with an adjustable-rate mortgage benefitted from low payments when the loan was new, but inflation has driven up payments as adjustable rates have increased. Declining incomes following retirement can make it difficult to manage mortgage payments even when seniors have a fixed-rate mortgage. Homeowners who are 75 or older now have the highest foreclosure rate of any age group.

About 21.5% of seniors rent their primary residence. A rapidly growing number of senior renters are cost burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their income on rent and utilities. More than half of cost-burdened seniors devote more than 50% of their income to housing costs.

Housing has been a “stubbornly large” contributor to inflation following the pandemic. Even as inflation has cooled, a tight housing market has encouraged landlords to impose rent increases that exceed the inflation rate.

HOPE For Seniors

Seniors with housing concerns can obtain advice from The Hope Hotline. Working together with the National Council on Aging, 955HOPE provides information to renters and homeowners that will help them cope when they miss a rent or mortgage payment.

While 955HOPE does not provide direct financial assistance to renters or homeowners, it offers counseling to help seniors negotiate with lenders and landlords so they can get back on track before they face eviction or foreclosure. Counselors can also help seniors make a budget and prioritize payments when unexpected expenses jeopardize the ability to pay for housing.

Homeowners who have equity in their homes might consider a reverse mortgage or a home equity loan to help them through difficult times. Taking out one loan to pay another can be a ruinous strategy, but there are times when careful borrowing might be the smartest solution to a short-term financial crisis. Professional counselors, including those at 955HOPE, can help homeowners explore all their options.

Counselors can also advise seniors about agencies and organizations that may be able to offer financial assistance. Some state and local governments offer help with rent and utility payments. A Consumer Financial Protection Bureau webpage includes links to resources that seniors can explore if they don’t know how they will make their next rent or mortgage payment.

Low-income seniors may be eligible for subsidized housing, including apartment complexes that offer reduced rents to older tenants. The Department of Housing and Urban Development provides information about public housing and Housing Choice Voucher programs for which low-income renters may qualify. The HUD’s rental assistance webpage has links to resources in every state that address rental assistance, eviction relief, affordable housing, and homelessness. Tenants can also use an HUD search page to locate a counselor at a HUD-approved counseling agency in their area.

 

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