原标题：Reverse Mortgages Costing Some Older Americans Their Homes（银财翻译配图）

Linda McMahon, now a 65-year-old widow, was ineligible to be on the reverse mortgage her husband took out in 2005, and lost her St. Croix Falls, Wis., home. （银财翻译：琳达麦克马洪，65岁，丧夫，无权继续享有丈夫2005年办理的反向按揭，失去了她位于威斯康星州圣克罗伊瀑布的家。）

The very loans that are supposed to help seniors stay in their homes are in many cases pushing them out.

这些本应用来帮助老年人居住家中的贷款，越来越多地变成赶走他们的帮凶。

Reverse mortgages, which allow homeowners 62 and older to borrow money against the value of their homes and not pay it back until they move out or die, have long been fraught with problems. But federal and state regulators are documenting new instances of abuse as smaller mortgage brokers, including former subprime lenders, flood the market after the recent exit of big banks and as defaults on the loans hit record rates.

在美国，反向按揭帮助62岁及以上年龄的老人养老，即参照他们持有房屋市值进行抵押，在他们搬走或去世后无需偿还贷款，不过一直广受诟病。联邦政府和州政府也在对这些按揭丑闻进行调查，因为前次贷主在内的小型按揭机构，在大银行贷款违约增多退出后，蜂拥到这个市场。

Some lenders are aggressively pitching loans to seniors who cannot afford the fees associated with them, not to mention the property taxes and maintenance. Others are wooing seniors with promises that the loans are free money that can be used to finance long-coveted cruises, without clearly explaining the risks. Some widows are facing eviction after they say they were pressured to keep their name off the deed without being told that they could be left facing foreclosure after their husbands died.

有些按揭机构过于贪婪，明知老人无法承担相关费用，仍旧发放贷款，也没有告知涉及的房产税和维护费用。还有些机构更是隐瞒风险，忽悠老人这些是免费的贷款，可以用来去享受邮轮旅行。一些寡妇甚至被迫接受不在按揭合同上署名，她们面临的可能是丈夫去世后无权赎回房屋，并因此无家可归。

Now, as the vast baby boomer generation heads for retirement and more seniors grapple with dwindling savings, the newly minted Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is working on new rules that could mean better disclosure for consumers and stricter supervision of lenders. More than 775,000 of such loans are outstanding, according to the federal government.

现在，大规模婴儿潮时期的那一代人，开始面临退休，更多的老人不得不靠越来越少的储蓄度日。因此，新成立的金融消费保护局正在努力指定各项规则，从而为消费者更好地披露和监管按揭机构。根据联邦政府数据，有超过775000个这样的按揭贷款尚未结清。

Concerns about the multibillion-dollar reverse mortgage market echo those raised in the lead-up to the financial crisis when consumers were marketed loans — often carrying hidden risks — that they could not afford.

对于这些数十亿美元反向按揭的担忧，仿佛又让我们想起导致金融危机的诱因：消费者被贷款，尤其是他们无法承担却又隐藏风险的贷款。

“There are many of the same red flags, including explosive growth and the fact that these loans are often peddled aggressively without regard to suitability,” said Lori Swanson, the Minnesota attorney general, who is working on reforming the reverse mortgage market.

“已经出现很多危险信号，比如爆发性增长，比如毫无门槛的肆意兜售按揭贷款。”明尼苏达总检察长洛里斯旺森强调。他正试图对反向按揭市场进行改革。

Joan Serioux-Forde, 72, thought that she couldn’t feel more devastated after her husband, Christopher, died last year. Then, roughly a month after the funeral, she received a letter from Generation Mortgage, a reverse mortgage lender, informing her that unless she paid $293,000, she would lose her home in San Bernardino, Calif. Ms. Forde said she was never informed that if she wasn’t on the reverse mortgage deed, she would have virtually no right to stay in her home unless she bought it outright. “It’s a nightmare,” she said. Generation Mortgage declined to comment.

琼 塞瑞克斯福德，自从丈夫去年去世以后，她感觉到生活就像天塌了一样。就在他丈夫葬礼后不到1个月后，她收到了世代按揭的来信，通知立刻她支付293000美元，否则她将失去在加州圣地亚哥的家。福德夫人告诉记者她压根就不知道自己居然不是按揭合同的受益人。后果就是她要么完全回购房屋，要么搬离曾经的家。她说：“这真是个噩梦。”世代按揭拒绝对此作出回应。

Although the numbers of reverse mortgages have declined in recent years, the rate of default is at a record high — roughly 9.4 percent of loans, according to the consumer protection bureau, up from around 2 percent a decade earlier. And borrowers are putting their nest eggs at risk by increasingly taking out the loans at younger ages and in lump sums, federal data and a recent bureau report show.

虽然反向按揭这些年来逐渐减少，违约比例却是居高不下，据消费保护局统计，大概占到总贷款的9.4%，而在十年前这个比例仅有2%。联邦数据和近期保护局的调查显示，按揭对象更加年轻化，按揭金额也更多的是一次性提取，从而埋下更大风险。

Peter H. Bell, president and chief executive of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, a trade group, said that he met with officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to begin hashing out a way for lenders to adopt a uniform standard to determine whether seniors can afford to take on the loans.

美国反向按揭协会主席皮特H贝尔，就提到正在与国家住房及城市发展部官员商讨规范按揭机构采取统一标准的方案，并据此决定老人能否承担按揭。

Used correctly, reverse mortgages can be a valuable tool for seniors to stay in their homes and gain access to money needed for retirement. Seniors who have built up equity in their homes can borrow against a percentage of that and take out a lump sum or a line of credit. The loan doesn’t have to be repaid until the homeowner moves out or dies, but borrowers still have to pay property taxes, maintenance and insurance.

反向按揭，如果使用恰当，不失为一个好的财务工具。它既能帮助老人老有所居，还能够提供足够的退休养老费用。参照老人持有房屋的净值，按照比例一次性或者分期提取贷款。老人在搬离房屋或去世后，这笔贷款无需偿还，但需要注意的是，借款人仍需支付房产税、维护和保险费用。

Reverse mortgage lenders and brokers note that the loans are highly regulated and require potential borrowers to speak to a certified housing counselor about the potential pitfalls before taking out the loans. Mr. Bell adds that his trade group strictly monitors the advertising of its roughly 400 members to ensure that it is accurate.

反向按揭机构和中介知道，这些按揭有严格监管，按揭客户在办理贷款前必须要从合格置业顾问那里获知潜在的风险。贝尔主席强调，协会严格监管400多家会员的广告，以确保它们做到这点。

Since the financial crisis, the reverse mortgage market has been in flux, dampened by a drop in property values, complaints about the loans and the recent departure of big lenders. Originations backed by the federal government peaked at about 115,000 in 2007 and totaled about 51,000 loans last year.

金融危机以来，反向按揭市场开始波动并萎缩，原因包括房屋贬值、按揭投诉和近期大型机构的推出。联邦政府的数据显示，2007年最多达到115000个，去年则只有51000个。

MetLife was the latest major player to exit the market, in April. That followed the departure last year of the two biggest reverse mortgage lenders, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, which cited falling housing prices and difficulty assessing borrowers’ ability to repay the loans.

Metlife曾经是主要的按揭机构之一，今年4月推出这个市场。在这之前，两外两家反向按揭机构，美国银行和富国银行，也纷纷离场，原因还是跌跌不休的房价和无以为继的偿还能力。

Into the void left by the big banks have moved smaller mortgage brokers and lenders. Some of them steer seniors into expensive, risky loans with deceptive sales pitches and high-pressure tactics, according to regulators, housing counselors and elder-care advocates.

因此小型按揭机构和中介，面对大型银行留下的市场，乘虚而入。监管机构、置业顾问以及志愿律师反映，有些机构就开始向老人推销昂贵而又危险的按揭贷款，方式无非是欺骗的销售手段和高压的唬吓伎俩。

Mark S. Diamond, a former subprime mortgage broker in Chicago, who has been sued for fraud by the Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois attorney general, faces a federal lawsuit filed in June by seniors who claim that he sold them reverse mortgages and either pocketed their loan amounts or promised to put the proceeds toward home repairs that never materialized. A lawyer for Mr. Diamond did not return calls for comment. Some solicitations reviewed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau present reverse mortgages as “free money” or mistakenly tell seniors that they could never lose their home. One Maryland reverse mortgage lender tells seniors that they can put the proceeds toward a vacation: “Just because you’re retired doesn’t mean you don’t need a vacation every now and then.” Last year, the Massachusetts Commissioner of Banks issued cease-and-desist orders to a handful of reverse mortgage firms for operating without a license. In its advertising, one of those mortgage brokers falsely promised seniors “you won’t lose your home.”

马克S戴蒙德，曾是芝加哥的一位次级按揭经理，现已被联邦商务委员会和伊利诺斯总检察长起诉欺诈。他面临着6月立案的一桩联邦诉讼。受骗老人们指控他骗售次级贷款、隐瞒贷款金额或捏造子午须有的房屋维修开支。戴蒙德的律师尚未对讯问做出回复。金融消费保护局透露，按揭经理通常会误导老人将按揭说成是“免费贷款”或者不会因此失去房屋。马里兰的一位反向按揭经理曾对老人说，可将贷款用于独家休闲，“虽然您们已经退休了，但这并不意味着你们不需要度假。”去年，马里兰州银行专员关停了多家无牌经营的反向按揭公司。其中有家公司居然在广告中，郑重承诺：“您不会因此失去房屋。”

Officials at the bureau, which issued a report on the industry in June, said they heard from a number of seniors who claimed that lenders encouraged them to make their older spouses the sole borrower on the loan. The brokers earn more money when they make larger loans with the older spouse as the only borrower.

保护局官员说，6月发布一份行业报告显示，不少老人声称按揭机构鼓励以夫妻二人中年龄较大者名义单独办理贷款。如果能够说服夫妻中较老者办理更大金额贷款，按揭经理将因此获得更多提成。

Some surviving spouses complained that brokers told them they could be added later, but they were not. The bureau says those seniors are at greater risk of losing their homes. The complaints, according to elder-care advocates and federal officials, have been rising during the past year, although there are no exact numbers.

有些健在的夫妻投诉，按揭经纪并未履行可以后加上配偶名字的承诺。保护局认为这些老人会面临更大的风险，那就是失去家园。据志愿律师和联邦官员说，虽然尚无具体数值，但这这些投诉在过于一年里明显增加。

Linda McMahon, a 65-year-old widow, watched helplessly as the locks were changed on her home in St. Croix Falls, Wis., last month. She said that in 2005, when her husband was 82 and she was 58, a mortgage broker from Wells Fargo promised her that she could add her name to the mortgage once she turned 62. That never happened because that year, in 2009, she didn’t have time to deal with it as her husband’s health quickly deteriorated and he died from a heart condition, she said. Soon, she was unable to pay any of the property taxes and insurance. “I am devastated,” said Ms. McMahon, who is retired, living on Social Security income and now renting an apartment.

65岁的寡妇琳达麦克马洪，无助地望着位于威斯康星州圣克罗伊瀑布的家，大门上个月已经被换新锁。2005年，她的丈夫82岁，她58岁，当时有位富国银行的按揭经理，承诺她可以在62岁的时候把名字加进按揭合同。这个承诺重未兑现。2009年，丈夫病情突然恶化并死于心脏病，她根本无法顾及这件事。接着，她也很快无法支付房产税和保险。“我感觉像天塌了一样糟糕”，麦克马洪夫人说。现在她已经退休，靠着社保度日，租住在一间公寓里。

A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment. Reverse mortgages also have troublesome incentive structures that might encourage brokers to steer seniors toward lump-sum loans, which carry a fixed interest rate, rather than a line of credit with a variable interest rate, the bureau found. In a lump sum arrangement, the interest charges are added each month, and over time the total debt owed can far surpass the original loan.

富国银行的发言人拒绝就此作出回复。保护局发现：反向按揭本身还存在着一些产品结构缺陷，容易驱使按揭经理怂恿老人一次性提取贷款。因为这样执行的是一个固定利率，而不是授信额度的浮动利率。按照一次性提取来算，应付利息每个月递增，结果应偿债务远远超出贷款本金。

Brokers earn higher fees on these loans and even more money when they sell the loans into the secondary market, where they can get rates nearly double those for variable loans, according to rate sheets obtained by the consumer bureau.

按揭经理从这些贷款上面获得更高提成，根据消费保护局获得利率表显示，他们甚至能从按揭二级市场里赚到更多的佣金，所获得的利率接近浮动利率的两倍。

Some 70 percent of reverse mortgages are taken in lump sums, up from 3 percent in 2008, according to the bureau. When seniors use the money to pay off other debts, especially right before retirement or early into it, that can leave them with scarce resources to pay their property taxes and insurance.

现在，70%的反向按揭是一次性提取的，而在2008年这个比例仅有3%。当这些老人在刚退休或退休不久后，已经用掉这笔钱偿还其他债务，他们就很难再支付房产税和保险费用。

Ms. Forde, who lives in fear of losing her San Bernardino home, said she could not afford to save her house by paying the full $293,000 debt. Now, she said, she spends much of her day standing guard by the window. Her home is already in foreclosure proceedings. With a wavering voice, she said: “I have nowhere to go.”

福德夫人，生活在恐惧中，担心失去圣地亚哥的家。她说自己根本无法全额支付293000美元赎回房屋。现在，她每天能做的只有守在窗前。赖以为生的房屋已经进入取消赎回权程序。她颤抖地说：“我现在真的别无去处了。”