Liberty Reverse Mortgage Reviews

We had three people here and the one we chose was the most pleasant and explained it better. I liked the personality of the rep from Liberty Home. The application and underwriting process took two hours and it was our first encounter with Steve, the rep. We had two other different businesses and we took Steve because he was clearer and we seemed to be more relaxed. He didn’t push and try to get and make a sale right away. I also dealt with two of his staff and they were very nice ladies. Things went very smoothly considering what we were going through. We were signed $180,000 that we can use and we just took out 15. The balance is getting some interest earned on that and that was amazing. I would recommend Liberty.

The application process was quite good and quick. But we had a little snag with the appraisal. I had started with another company then I got the interest rate from Liberty. The other company had already gone and done the appraisal so we had to go by the appraisal from the other company. It took a little while to get it all squared away but once we did, it was fine.

I worked with a lady who was nice and professional which I liked very much. She was quite good and concise. She let me know what was happening like if they were still waiting on this, they got that, and if everything was a go for this. She did the best she could with what she had. Everyone was quite courteous and fair with me. I was kept abreast of what was going on so that was nice. I had a very good experience. People should dial Liberty up and use them.

My brother, my mother and I decided that Liberty's offer was a good deal. She doesn't even have to worry about house payments, which really helps her monthly money so that when a prescription costs $86 she won't say that she can't have it. My mom, Chris and I did the application on the phone. I gave Liberty my own number. We got on the speakerphone and filled the application out. I copied all the stuff they needed for hard copy back-up and then Chris sent a notary out the next day who got my mother's original signature. We gave that notary her copy and she sent it back to Chris. The application and underwriting process took less than 30 days, which wasn't long. My mom had to do the credit counseling on the phone. She gets nervous about stuff, but it wasn't hard and she did just fine.

I went on vacation. I was in the British Virgin Islands and got messages from Liberty and got it back to my mom to let her know when the people were coming and all that she needed. And when the gal came for final signatures, my mom called me. We were on speaker and she asked if the numbers were right. Liberty's rates and terms were fair. The rates were going up but Chris helped us a ton and has been our accountant. We did amortizations on all the three that Liberty offered. The cost was super high, but in five years' time, they'd all match.

So, I called Liberty Home Equity and was told that we could sell and redo the reverse mortgage in Bakersfield, so we did that. It was a long process but was relatively painless. Still, it went quicker because we had already been through everything and knew what they expected. We just needed to stick with it and receive counseling at every step. This was so we knew what to expect and for there to be no surprises.

I have different choices on how I want to do the reverse mortgage and I am aware of what the consequences are. If I have equity in the home, I can choose if I want to use the reverse mortgage as a supplement to my retirement or use it to alleviate making a monthly payment. The rep whom we worked with was great. He was very on top of things. He called us each week for an update so that we knew where we were at. We appreciated the fact that our agent knew what was going on. Even if he didn't know, he found out within minutes what the consequence would be if we did something and would call right back. I've recommended the same person whom we had contact with to friends.

Overall, working with Liberty has worked great for us. People need to call our rep and he would make sure to have all their bases covered. They will know exactly before they sign on the dotted line if and how they wanna proceed. Liberty's counseling relieved me of all the stress on how I'm going to be able to do a reverse mortgage. When they offer suggestions, I know what the bottom line is.

Thus far, working with Liberty Home Equity Solutions has been wonderful. It was so simple and it didn't take long at all. The people whom I worked with, Liz, Robinson and Peggy made it so easy. They walked me through the process and they did everything. Liz was so nice and she was on top of everything. She answered all my questions completely and I could ask her over and over again if I didn't understand something. Also, she didn't pressure me to do the reverse mortgage nor was she trying to sell me a product.

The rate Liberty gave me was great. Also, I got choices and they explained different ways of doing the reverse mortgage. Eventually, I took the best way for me and I'm fine about it. Currently, I don't have a house payment and I can stay in my home. I'm not gonna be struggling every month. I have two people whom I'm talking to who are interested in a reverse mortgage and I've recommended Liberty to them.

I felt comfortable working with Liberty. They were quite upfront. They wanted to know what we needed and when we had the appraiser come out here, he verified it. Liberty was also informative. They got details on what they needed and the documents that I requested were sent to me. Sometimes they couldn't do it on email. The process took about two and a half months, and some of that had to do with getting appraisals for the work that was being done. I got some things done that we needed to get done. But our experience with the roofer who did the work before was almost an issue of fraud. The first day it rained after we got a new roof, it leaked. He had a bogus contractor's license but the city approved it. When I had it appraised afterwards, people were saying the guy wasn't a roofer. Liberty basically suggested I get more than one quote and I had to submit them both to them to make sure they were detailed.

We also had to meet with HUD and that took a couple days. But everything was fine. Liberty got the credit approved and then we started working on the details. That was nice. There were a couple of things with the paperwork we signed though. When HUD came out, they had our names and ID. When they gave us a form, I signed it the way they gave it to me. In the paperwork, I would be "Ken" in one and "Kenneth" in another. Then Liberty said they had to have it signed the way they had it. There was nothing wrong with that. But it was a little tedious. Nonetheless, Liberty was really good and I'm quite pleased with them.

My interaction with the loan officer, Liz, was excellent and everybody from the organization was very helpful and really interested and concerned in what we were doing. The rates that I received were also okay. We paid off a lot of things that we wanted to get done and Liberty has really made it a lot easier on us. They were excellent.

The cost of the reverse mortgage was minimal and the rates were less than I could get in a home equity line of credit in this day and time. Of course, I can use part of it as an investment account. The only thing that bothered me compared to getting a normal equity was the amount of the closing cost, but I understood that the cost is a lot more entailed to this type of loan. So, I was all right with it.

Overall, the experience with Liberty was very pleasant. The reps there progressed me to different people as I went along. Sometimes, I had to adjust to the different personalities of each, but nobody was ever rude. I really felt like they had my interest in mind. They wanted me to understand what I was doing, and they didn’t try to hide anything. I didn’t have any surprises come up. They were more than open with me and I enjoyed that.

The application and underwriting process took a long time because there was always something that they needed. On the application, there was a notary who came to the house and witnessed the signing of the application, and took all of the documents, then sent it in a package to Liberty. Afterwards, the package was lost. It upsetted me because there were Social Security numbers and a lot of information that was extremely valuable. I was not really happy with that process. When I started doing business directly with the Liberty staff that was in California that things went much smoother. They were really good. They were smart and competent. They knew what they were doing. Even though there was a time difference, their response time was wonderful. That saved the loan. I would recommend Liberty although I would not recommend that particular loan officer.

I also pointed out to one of Joanne's associates that in the list of numbers of the counseling agencies that they recommended that you have to go through the program with them, a number of the numbers were not even in service. And some people wanted us to come drive 30 miles to make an appointment to come in a week later while some people didn't serve our area. It took me several hours to contact somebody that was on hand and willing to help. It was a long and arduous process to find somebody within reason monetarily but was available to do the service. Also, Joanne recommended around $100 and we paid the company that we got almost double that. But they were very professional and they've been in business a long time. They knew what they were doing and they could start helping us right away.

Another thing is, when the appraiser came to the home, she wanted to get under the house. My husband had a lock on the access to that but he couldn't find the key right away at the time. As the appraiser was here and not wanting to come back, he had to unscrew the hinges to get the access to get under the house and look around. But it was good because she said it was the cleanest crawlspace she'd ever seen.

Then, the water heater had to be strapped to the wall securely in case of earthquakes or such and we needed a carbon monoxide. That was no big deal, but it took my husband all one afternoon and part of the evening to get that hot water heater strapped in. If we had known about that ahead of time, that could have been done prior to the appraiser coming. So it would have been nice if there was list of a few requirements that needed to take place in order for her to get her paperwork done in the time that was required, so she didn't have to come back out. But I was able to text her pictures and that worked out okay. Aside from that, we didn't appreciate the first notary that had been out. But we loved the second notary. She was so good and really wonderful. So, we were glad that she came out for the second finding. Liberty had her because they wanted to speed things up, so they got her out instead of the initial one.

Other than that, the loan was done professionally and expediently, and the rate and terms of the mortgage that we got are fair for the economy at the moment. We may find ourselves at sometime just paying it all off, but we'll see. Since we did the reverse mortgage with Liberty, things have developed in a positive way for us and we're thinking this was a really good move for both of us right now.

I had someone look at the Liberty's rate for me and that person said it was reasonable and that I would probably get the same thing somewhere else. The lady that was the ending person, who actually closed out the loan, kept on top of the information for me. As soon as she'd find out something, she'd call me and make sure that I knew how long it would take. Overall, I would recommend Liberty and would also tell the couple of things that I was disappointed in.

The application and underwriting process took a very short time which was amazing. We were done in a month and a half. I liked that I'd get a phone call to explain everything that was gonna happen and they would tell me that I should get this and that and the other in the mail within the next two days. And I was prepared for everything that happened. There was just too many papers to read and sign. I had two people over with a pack of papers to go over and sign, and they also explained some of it. And though the terms of the mortgage was fair, I had hoped that I would get a little more cash upfront. That couldn't happen but it's fine anyway. Before this, I never went anywhere because I didn't wanna spend money. I didn't even go to lunch with a friend, but now, I don't feel as uptight about the future. And so, I would recommend Liberty.

The application process was painless. I didn’t have to do anything. They did everything for me. Everybody came out to my house and I didn’t have to go anywhere. They used UPS and FedEx and it was very easy and very fast. I like the experience and that’s kinda good for older people. I’m glad that I didn’t have to run here and do this. They also said they would send out women for me, just so I wouldn’t be afraid of strangers coming through my door. They made everything really convenient for me. It was different than the regular loan. They had a variable mortgage and I would like to have a straight mortgage, but everything seemed to be okay. I realize that it does cost to have a loan.

My experience with Liberty was good. Elizabeth made the original contact with me and she was extremely helpful throughout the process. Obtaining the mortgage went smoothly. When I had a question, I called them up and then Elizabeth gave me the answer, and we kept going over things until I understood them. The application and underwriting process took a few months, but I was gone in the middle of it. I wasn't in a hurry to close, so once I got back we picked up where we left off on it. After everything was done and dusted, the loan was passed on, and Elizabeth called me to say thank you and that she enjoyed working with me. If everything goes according to Hoyle, the terms of the mortgage should be very good. Working with Liberty is going to make retirement a lot easier and I would recommend them if somebody talks to me about a reverse mortgage.

I love Richard, my loan officer. Everybody was very nice- Richard, his assistant, the lady who came from Raleigh to finish my application and give me all the paperwork and the gentleman who came for me to close and sign everything. The customer service was always over and beyond in my eyes. But when my application was turned over to underwriting, the underwriter didn't communicate like the others did. I would have to call her for an update. The underwriter would call me once in a while and ask where was the so-and-so. I would say that I sent that in two weeks ago. She would look into her files and say, "Oh yeah, you did." I had gotten everything in a timely manner, but they were dragging their feet. I gave them a deadline that I had to close by the 15th. I was going out of the country and I didn't want to leave this loan open in case something happened. And we got it done by the 15th. I had a good experience and I would recommend Liberty.

I did a closing for a man near here, and he talked very highly about Mr. Herb, the officer from Liberty who helped us. I was talking to another lending company at the time. But I called Mr. Herb and I had a better feeling with Liberty and decided to go with him. He was wonderful, very polite, sincere, paid a lot of attention to detail and very customer-oriented. The application process was easy and wonderful as well, and it went very smoothly. The process took a week, which wasn't as long as I thought it would. Also, the rate was very fair and I'm very comfortable with it. I would recommend Liberty to other people constantly.

My house was worth more money, but that’s okay. It’s like real estate people, you put a lot of money into your house like I have mine and the guy next door doesn’t do anything with his. He’s a dump and your comps are the same as his. If you take care of your house and have a special thing done to it to make it nice, they don’t compensate you for that. They just go do their comp thing which is sickening. These people got that all screwed up and were crooked. Their interest rate goes from four to five to six. Other than that, Liberty is fine with me. I put in for my money, I get my money. That’s all I care about. I would recommend them to someone.

I informed Chris that I don't sign anything that I haven't read so they sent me the documents the weekend before the notary was supposed to come, which gave me an opportunity to go through all of it, get back to Chris and ask questions if necessary. They emailed me the final documents on a Thursday and when I looked at it, one date was incorrect so that Friday morning I called and let the person handling it, know that there was an error in that date, which gave them the opportunity to correct it before notary came. The process went quicker than I thought it would, and I was very satisfied.

There was a bit of a pause after they got the information, and then finally, they said it was okay. They had a guy evaluate our house and the evaluation was good. Then, someone came and we did the closing papers, which took about an hour. The whole process went on for two months, that was a little longer than we thought, and the closing cost was a little higher than what we were hoping it would be. We were on a 3% rate with our mortgage, so this is a little more interest, and my wife was a bit concerned about that. But we liked the idea that we don't have to make the mortgage payment.

I went through the whole process and it was complicated because I was combining titles on three properties that were all in one building. And then, I had to make it so there was just one parts of all. I was able to accomplish that and it worked out. It took months which was more than we expected, but of course, I had a much more complicated situation so it took a while to get through all of that. There were certain criteria and I just had to go through because I was making the changes as it went along and it went well. Liberty did an excellent job whenever I had a question.

The rates and terms were pretty much what I expected, but I was hoping for a better appraisal. But the area that I live in isn't by historical count the highest appraisal area. There are some areas where lesser buildings pay more money so that was a bit of a handicap, but when you do the numbers, it didn’t really matter because if you got a low appraisal and you don't get money above paying your mortgage off, and also if you sell it later, then you don't have to pay back the money either.

The loan was $109,000, which included the closing cost. But the amount that I could get was less than that. It didn't pay off all the mortgages, so I had to cover some money in order to make it work. There wasn't a negative balance. It wouldn't make any difference either way, except I didn't get money above my mortgage that I would on my mortgages. If I turned around and wanted to sell it in the future, then I have less to pay back. I would like to have the extra cash and getting rid of the payment was a big enough incentive.

I called AAG because my brother was gonna go through it. And then, their rep said she was gonna get back to me. However, three months went by and I didn't hear from her. Then I called back and I kept getting a recording because she wasn't in her office or whatever. They never got back to me. So then, I got online, called another company and told me my house was worth $125,000, which I know it wasn't. I was surprised in what it came out. I got online, and when I tried to find out more about reverse mortgages, I got a phone call and it was Ron from Liberty Home Equity and he said, "Well, I can explain it to you." He was very good.

I told him I had a solar panel and my house is not worth a $125,000. I was surprised it was worth a $107,000. I told him it was around $75,000 to $80,000, which I was surprised because the prices in Tucson have gone up a lot. He went through all of it and they wanted me to call right away and go through counselling and get an appraiser out. They wanted me to put the money out and pay for all these stuff. And I said, "Yeah, you're saying I qualified, but what happens if something happens and I don't? I'm out all this money for nothing."

And then, I got a call and that's when he started explaining. He said, "Well, before you spend any money, I could check things out for you." He was very helpful and very good, because then I explained about the solar panels. I said "I don't know them. They're on lease.” He said, "Well, you might have a problem with that." But he told me I would get the right thing by not spending money for counselling and for an appraisal until I find out for sure if I was even gonna qualify or not. He said, "Yeah, they can tell you you're gonna qualify, then you can go through all of this and spend this money out and say, 'Oh. By the way, we have this problem, so you don't qualify.' Now, you're throwing away $400-$500 for nothing." He told me that they can get me through this process and they can take care of all of it. If I wanted to go through the process, then they could get me set up for it.

Everybody that I spoke with throughout the process was great. They explained everything and it was wonderful. The process didn't take as long. The rep told me it was gonna take a little while because of the legalities I had here because my brother had died. I already got the house switched over to my name before I even applied for a reverse mortgage, but there was still a mortgage on the house and it was in my brother’s name. However, there was no way I can switch that. It was non-transferable.

The people were extremely polite and nice. The loan officer that I worked with was very patient. If I had a question, I just need to call her and ask. When she wasn’t at her desk, she immediately called me back. I was very comfortable working with her. However, the terms are confusing because they say that it's 4 point something percent, but they didn’t specify that that’s for the first year. And after that, it goes up to 23% or 24%. Nobody said anything about it upfront. I noticed that when I was going over the paperwork. I got the same charge the second year and the interest goes up every year until it hits a point and then it starts going back down. Working with Liberty has let me pay the bill I was worried about. The people are marvelous. It's just the paperwork. 10 pages of it could be cut out real easy. If others are thinking about getting a reverse mortgage, they should go to Liberty.

Other than that, the loan amount could've been more but for some reason, all the homes in my area were selling for a lot more than what the appraiser appraised the house at. However, my house has twice the land that everybody else's house has. Plus, it is kept up a lot better and has a lot more features in the property than others have, though the yard is bare. Still, I was able to pay for a year for my mother because of the loan and I'd recommend Liberty if you have the patience to go through the process.

The first day I talked with my counselor, Dorothy, I made an appointment to have the counseling and she was very cordial. But the next day, she was rude. She kept saying she couldn't hear me and that I must be walking around my house, or going in and out. I said I was sitting in the same spot I sat on when I made the appointment. I also said I was sorry she wasn't hearing me and that maybe we should hang up and try again. But she said no and that she had too much to do and we just had to get it over with. She said it was going to take about an hour and a half and she could hardly hear me.

I said I would try to speak slowly and not move my head. The hour and a half turned out to be 20 minutes, which was fine with me. I think they do that just so if it doesn't take as long, you will be thrilled Other than Dorothy, everybody else was wonderful. I would adopt them into my family. They gave me a list of about 12 people to call for the counseling, I just called the first one on the list so I'm sure the other 11 are wonderful people. Dorothy might have been wonderful too. She might have just been having a bad day.

I've had to cut corners for the last several years since I retired and I'm only living on my social security so I'm used to being careful. With Liberty I'll be doing fine. I understood everything and why I'm getting this much instead of that much. I enjoyed working with them and I'm really looking forward to the experience for several years. They're very conscientious and helpful. My job was working with the elderly in hospital situations for 48 years and I know how difficult it is to work with the elderly sometimes. All the people were young and they could be my grandchildren but they were wonderful and very good kids. I would recommend Liberty to everybody.

Their reps were all very good. Whatever they needed that they didn’t have, I usually had it, make a copy, put it in the envelope and send it to them. And they’d send me a UPS envelope to return it and it didn’t cost me a penny. I even got a “Thank you.” card from the loan officer who helped me. Everybody was very, very nice. My loan officer was very honest. He told me what reverse mortgage meant. When my wife and I pass away, the house would be sold, they're gonna get our money and I'm out of the $22,000 loan that I was making payments on, and my son would still get some money. The rate and the terms were very good. So far, I'm just happy to get out of the $22,000 loan. The house that I'm living in was appraised at $110,000. Since my son didn’t need it nor the money, I figured I'm gonna have a little extra money here. In fact, I can still get $12,000 if I want to. Overall, my experience working with Liberty was good.

The process was very smooth and simple from beginning to end. They gave me choices on whether I wanted to pay upfront for certain things to the appraisal and counseling session or if I want it pulled from the actual mortgage at that point. I’m several hundred miles from Sacramento where the company resides, so everything was done electronically. I went ahead and had the counseling, then I had someone come to me with the paperwork to notarize and sign. The process took less than a month and it went very quickly. It worked out and I had an awesome interaction with my loan officer, Liza.

In terms of the rate and terms that I got, they were what I was looking for. The biggest issue was to get out of debt so I spent time with a friend of mine who’s an accountant and we talked through. Three quarters of my debt was at a higher interest rate and what the reverse mortgage could even possibly get up to, which would take about five years to get to a higher rate if it does go up. I felt that it was absolutely well worth it to get the strain of the debt off of me and to live within my financial means.

It’s only been a week since I’ve had this whole thing with Liberty so my brain is having to be reprogrammed because with the money available to me, I probably spend it all quickly but it would be unwise for me to do that. Every person that I mentioned that I was gonna do a reverse mortgage did not right out said to me not to do it but I could hear in their voice disbelief that comes from many years ago when reverse mortgage was new and didn’t have certain guidelines to them. But I want people to know that it really is a reasonable step to take and the benefit is remarkable.

If a friend comes and asks me about Liberty, I would absolutely give them full confidence in the company and I would recommend Liz and Peggy any time as loan processors. They both were just delightful, helpful and kind. They were dealing with people who are over a certain age and it was important that they need to be clear and concise, and they were all of that.

However, obtaining my mortgage was hell. It turned out my student loans were supposed to have been discharged 17 years ago when I became disabled because they gave me a disability discharge. Apparently, for some technical reason, the disability discharge hadn’t gone through and I didn’t know that. And so, I had to go through that process and that took a couple months. And then, the IRS suddenly said I owed them a thousand dollars and wouldn’t shut up until I gave it to them even though I proved to them I didn’t owe it. I just wanna get that back out of them. They wouldn’t let me get the reverse mortgage unless I pay them $1000. The experience was extremely long and frustrating, but it wasn’t Liberty's fault. It just dragged on and I had no income. Although my birthday was last July, so from July until this week, I have my Social Security, but that isn’t even enough to pay the utilities. So it was awful. But now, it’s all good.

The reps at Liberty were very nice, professional and hardworking people. My initial person doesn’t work there anymore, so that was kind of a hiccup. There were two people who I worked with. One went on maternity leave and so I had a new person there and she was fine. Part of the process was that I had to have an independent financial person come to talk to me and she said that she thought Liberty's rate was a very good offer. The rates on all mortgages were going up, so mine was just about right.

The one thing I didn’t like is when the appraiser came out, he said my hot water heater had to have two bands on it for earthquake reasons. He was supposed to come out and take a picture of it. He called and asked me if I would take a picture, which I did and sent it to him. Then he charged me $100 for that. He was the only person I thought was a little shady. They have me do his work, which I didn’t mind, but I did mind the charge. But other than that, my overall experience with Liberty has been fine. I would recommend Liberty to others. People should give them a call if they’re interested in a reverse mortgage.

I told the rep at the beginning that I would remodel my bathroom. When they got here, they were surprised and said that they couldn’t do the loan because I didn’t have a bathroom. The second bathroom I had there was just toilet and sink, but they didn’t even go and check that. They should have done a thorough evaluation. They had to come back and I got the bathroom finished. Christine was very nice, courteous and kind in trying to explain everything to the people over. She was trying to help me understand why the company was doing this. She was straightforward and I was very comfortable working with her.

I was very satisfied with the rates and terms of the mortgage but I wish I could have gotten a little bit more for the house. The first part that was allotted is just about gone because I have made so many promises and when I made the promise, I thought I was gonna get the lump sum in one year but they divided it into two. That threw me for a loop but I was too far in the loan and I just didn’t back out. I would have had to start all over with someone else and I was already late with my payments that I promised my contractors. Still, working with Liberty took a lot of stress off. They were very good but you should get all the facts you need upfront.

I called my loan officer anytime I wanted to talk to her and I got in contact with them as much as I wanted to. I left my name and phone number, so she was happy about calling me back. She called me to make sure that I was satisfied and told me everything I needed to know. While I was doing the paperwork, she called to make sure that I was doing everything correctly. I called her back and she helped me with that. However, they told me they were gonna pay my insurance for me for the year, and they didn’t. So, I did it myself. The rates were good and it was more than my credit card so, that was reasonable. She told me that I could pay it back if I wanted to or I can just wait it out. She said my interest rate won't go over 9% so that was good but I didn’t like that they could transfer my loan to someone else. Still, Liberty helped me and people should try them.

The rep gave me some pointers and tried to answer my questions the best he could. Liberty helped me. I needed the money. I've got a pretty nice house but I'm coming short of a few hundred dollars every month. I didn't need a large loan, but the idea of having that line of credit was really what sold me. The reverse mortgage is a pretty good deal and I've already directed one party to Liberty Home.

Chris, the one who initially called me, got things going and then transferred everything to his associate. At first, the ladies I was working with were communicating. Towards the end, when they couldn’t come up with the woman’s signature on the document, I would call them but they wouldn’t return the call. We had no air conditioner and the heating system was gone. That was the purpose of the loan and we had to schedule these things and get them installed. The communication could have been better. After a while, I thought they were leading me on and that I wasn’t gonna get the loan. I did some investigation just to see if it was an actual company. I had a friend who was a reverse mortgage specialist and she guided me to what was acceptable and what wasn’t so I felt it took too long and it could have been expedited quite a bit.

The job that they did was adequate in the beginning and everything was brought right to me. That was really good. Once they got the signature, it was done but I told the rep that if I didn’t get it, I would transfer the loan to another company. The next day, I had a closing date. It took 21 days to dispute it and it was signed on the same day. I got a heat pump but the anticipation was frustrating and I hung around waiting for the phone to ring. I’m glad it’s over.

Once I got the certification, Liberty sent me a bunch of papers to sign and the house was appraised. Then they came up with a number of which about 50% went to pay the existing mortgage that was left. The process took three months, although I didn’t want it to go through too quickly. But they wanted it to go through quicker because they thought the interest rates were gonna go up and then there would be less money for me. I forgot how many days it was that I could still reject their service if I wanted to, but I was convinced that that was the thing to do, and I still am.

The only thing that I didn’t like about the whole process was the limit on how much money I can take out of my equity account upfront. We were not hard up for money though. That was not the reason why I did it. Our problem was we had a lot of money in tax-exempt accounts. And if we took out more than $15,000 out of any or all of the accounts in a year’s time, then we would have to pay an exorbitant amount of income tax on it. What I didn’t know and what seemed to be a deep, dark secret was that we are only taxed on half of our Social Security. So once we get over the magic number where we have to pay tax, then we get taxed on 100% of our Social Security. The number, I think, is 13,500 and I get up over that. So it was not just a matter of paying an additional 7%. It was like 25%, so I jumped up by two tax brackets.

I talked to Liberty about the rate and terms and I asked them what would happen if I decided to pay the mortgage off. The rep said that only 1% of the people ever pay it off and that they just let the house go at the end. But I had my daughter involved in the process, so she understood what we were doing. She could still sell the house or we could or my wife could. I don’t ever wanna leave this place but if I croak, my wife is gonna have to go through all this mess of trying to sell everything. In this way, with the reverse mortgage, we really don’t have to. She can walk out of the house and just leave it, and let the bank take it or whatever she feels like doing. Or if she wants to sell it, then she can, and it’ll be a 150,000 or 200,000 profit after she pays off Liberty. She’s gonna have to make those decisions when the time comes. But in a year from now, we will have a nice equity account to draw on to do all the things that we wanted to do.

I was really happy with Liberty and I still am. However, when we had to sign the final papers, there were some numbers that I was not expecting to see. The papers had to be all signed in front of the lady notary who came out with the papers, but she could not explain anything. She was just there to make sure that we were who we said we were and that we got all the papers signed. I called Liberty three times during the process and they explained exactly what I was signing. The reps were wonderful and they still are.

We then got a letter in the mail saying that they had issued the checks and that a company was titling or putting names on the house. I did not recognize the name of the title company, so I called Liberty right away, and they said that was their parent company, the one that owns Liberty. The process that we went through with Liberty wasn't easy. But I can understand why it wouldn’t be because if somebody is not mentally sharp, then they probably should not be doing this. One has to completely understand that you’re getting the money now and if you spend it now, there’s gonna be nothing later.

After almost two months of negotiations, I was either gonna cancel it or take a lesser amount of money because Liberty said they couldn’t give me what I was quoted because she was no longer with the company. I wanted to get the thing done quickly and I was tired of going back and forth with Liberty about this. So, I was upset about the way that I was treated at the last part of it. I originally wanted 30,000, we settled on 20, and then when it came to finally doing it, they said all I could get was 15,000 and change. The whole process took over two months and it was in the underwriting for a long time. They wanted to know certain things and it was totally ridiculous to what this was for. The reps weren’t authorized to do anything except follow what was told them.

I’m a real estate broker and I deal with a lot of mortgages. This wasn’t the greatest experience with a mortgage even though this was a reverse mortgage on mine. On other experiences that I had with people having mortgages, there was no problem and I didn’t have those questions asked of them. So, it was not what I wanted but I settled for it. I wouldn’t recommend them.

Everybody always wanted the rate lower but I found it to be a benchmark and it was okay. I’m going on 72 and I need a hip replacement. I’m still working full-time but working with Liberty is going to enable me to quit or go part-time within the next four months. Liberty went out of their way, made the closing excellent and got my cost down as low as they possibly could. I will recommend them.

The application process was simple. We did the first one over the phone and the rep walked us through it step-by-step. Also, I was very comfortable working with all of them in the office. Ron kept in contact with us all the time. And then as it went through the process, a couple of women in the office called and said, “Okay. Now, we need this paperwork,” or send whatever. They sent us a overnight thing and we got whatever they needed and we sent it right back. It took two months at the most, which was quick. It was very efficient and it worked out really great. The rates and terms are much better than a home equity loan where you’re paying back lots. Liberty has made our life much simpler and gave us peace of mind. We paid off a motor home loan and a couple of big bills. If anybody was interested in a reverse mortgage or anybody asks, I would send them Liberty’s way.

I got a bit disgusted with Liberty. I started out with Joanne, an excellent gal but then I got switched over to some other people and things fell apart. I ended up working with Katie who didn’t answer my questions and it seemed like she didn't really know that much either. The appraisal on the house was sent back for some questions and I've been waiting for an answer for three weeks now. The reverse mortgage has all been settled though. I got my money right off the bat once they approved everything. Liberty's rate is good and the terms are excellent.

I own my home already and all of my assets are in my home. I contacted another lender but they didn't contact me back. I then looked online and I saw Liberty. It was like they were first and Liberty was second, but as soon as I called somebody in Liberty, I got help and that help stayed with me all the way through. The application process was a long process. It's a lot of paper signing, but all in all, no big deal. I was told it might take as many as three months and I said it was fine. My need would be probably after three months. If I had any question, the loan officer Carol just said to call her and I could call them. If she wasn't there at that time, I got a call back that day. Then someone else took over. Carol said, "She will handle you from now on." I have her card in the material and she's the same way. I know I can call her and then she'll get me in contact with the right people.

However, there was a separate letter from the company that handles the line of credit. And it said, "In this portfolio, you have a request form for asking for money which you can fax or mail." It depends on the urgency. I went through the papers and didn't find anything. I'm not in the position right now where I have to request that money, but I'd like to have that form if I do. We got ahead with the hurricane Irma and our roof leaks. It's not like my house is dripping with water and filling with mold, but the roof was pretty much messed up and the insurance should replace it. I want a new roof on this house as it would increase the value of the property immensely. Also, should we need to sell, I end up with more equity. It's a stone roof and to replace it on your own, you're looking at $45,000. But the insurance will pay close to the $40,000 of it.

We're in the process of that, which is taking forever. But the deductible on that is $6,440 and I get $1,500 to spend a month. And if that comes at the same time that I have to pay my taxes, which is close to $4,000, having the line of credit would be good. I got this reverse mortgage to avoid a dire situation like foreclosure, for instance. If you have assets and you can tap into that asset, why not do it? The first thing when you do one of these things is, you're financing the settlement cost and there's another $20,000 in that. I'm just digging and digging. But you never know, like if equity goes up and all these things could be minutia. Liberty was topnotch and Carol handled through the beginning and I don't think you can find a finer person than her.

The first person that worked with us and set everything up for us before our application went on to the main processor made sure that we understood everything that we were doing. Her name was Mary and she dealt with the follow up every few days by texting, making sure that everything was going well even after she passed us along. She made sure that the company was staying right with us and getting everything accomplished. Mary was very personable and we met halfway when we were turning in all of our paperwork. She sat down with us and walked through everything. She even went back when there were things that we needed to add to it that we didn't include.

Liberty had a very good process. In fact, it was very detailed and straightforward. And when we had questions, there was no big lapse in time. They get back to us at least by the next day, so there was no issue with communication. Also, the rate we received was very good. Even down to getting the appraiser out, they took care of setting that up. And when he came out, he was very nice and cordial. We gave him a full run to do what he needed to do. In the end, we're very glad that we chose Liberty because they did a tremendous process with us. We're also very pleased with everyone that we worked with through the process, even down to the closing. I would recommend them highly.

The whole thing took 30 days from the first time I talked to Michael until it was all done and I talked to the last gal. Once or twice, they had to do some checking for me because they’ve never come up against something or they wanted to make sure because a couple of the qualifications had just changed. One major change made me stop and listen really closely and asked more questions. The rates were very good and I also received very good guidance. We had a very good experience with Liberty all the way around. Everyone was very polite, informative, and answered all of our questions.

I had an issue with the underwriter because I’m a Realtor and the mortgage is an FHA program. He told me I couldn’t earn a commission, but I wasn’t using the commission to purchase the home. He never could get that straight. I even called FHA, and they suggested I have him call them, which I did not do because underwriters can be really difficult. Also, I didn’t want him to throw a wrench in the work because I was questioning his decision. So, I just let it go. Although that slowed down the process, we were still able to close on time and my company mailed me my check after. We just had to redo documents and everything.

She answered any questions we had and then forwarded a couple packets of information to us. She then called back to see if we had gotten the information and had the chance to review it. That time, we hadn’t so I told her I'll call back in a few days after we review it and I did. She was there and was very prompt in getting on the phone and went over any concerns we had. She explained the process again, put us in touch with a counselor for HUD to review the conditions and that was it. Everything went really well. She helped work us through and still was in touch with us just the other day for some follow-up issues. We were very comfortable working with her.

But we received several notices in the mail and they looked like they’re from Liberty Home Equity Solutions asking us to respond regarding our mortgage and making sure we have the opportunity to buy the mortgage insurance, which I understood was always a part of their arrangement. The notices were not coming from Liberty but from another company called Essex but it looked it was coming out from Liberty. I called Nelda and informed her about it. She made a note of it. She’s gonna discuss it with the office there just to make people aware. Nevertheless, the guidance we have received from Liberty was professional and the rates were fair and competitive. We would recommend Liberty to anyone else who’s considering a reverse mortgage.

In the end, I got the loan I needed, so I'm happy with their service. I'm also happy with the way they treated me and I really appreciate their efforts. They explained what they were talking about and made sure I understood. They were every patient and they were doing a very good job for me. Working with Liberty has made my life a little bit easier. But their process could be improved if there was a little less paperwork. It seemed like there was a lot of duplication. Also, I would have liked it better if the interest had been lower, but things are the way they are.

Before my husband died, he told me not to ever get the reverse mortgage. But my daughter said that I need to enjoy and that he didn't know what he was talking about. She said that reverse mortgage companies do what they do to help older people. My mortgage company was Ocwen and I get the paper bill every month. Liberty was on their paperwork that they sent me so I called Liberty. I'm working with Mr. ** and he is a good man. He knows what he’s doing and my daughter likes him too. I’ve been here in my house since ’71 and I want to stay here if I could. Mr. ** was saying that I would still be in the house. He also said that if I come into some money, I can buy the house back. If I had known I could pay off $69,000 nine years ago, I would have left this house since.

Everybody that I’ve dealt with at Liberty has been great and nice. But I don’t like the procedure. I have gotten the money that was supposed to be coming to me. And in this day and time, $3,000 is a help but it’s no money. I thought I would get more money in the beginning than I have gotten. Still, until that little $3,000 came through, I would have had nothing but the house. The reverse mortgage is helping me but it’s also not helping me. I’ve never had so much paperwork in all my 74 years of life. I just put my faith in God and Mr. **.

Mr. ** called me yesterday saying that HUDS said that I had to have central air. I haven’t had that for a few years now. So I had to pay someone out of my charge card to do that and I didn’t like that. I’m out here trying to get money but now, I’ve got to pay more money on that charge card. Then Mr. ** said that he was gonna come today for me to read the papers and sign off but I hadn’t heard from him. I can’t do anything but sit here, wait and see.

I interacted with the loan officer and his assistant and their customer service was acceptable. The assistant was very good at returning my calls and getting back to me. I talked with him at the beginning and at the end. She was the one that did most of the process and only conferred with the loan officer when she needed to, so it was fine. I thought I was gonna get more after that. We changed from one method to a different method at the end, so that made some other changes. I would recommend Liberty and I’m satisfied. They took care of us, although they charged a bit much for some of the closing fees and it was non-negotiable when I would have been told that it was negotiable.

Chris kept in touch with us quite often, but as the loan progressed and the step-by-step thing, one of the people got back to us at least every three days to catch us up and bring us up to date as to where they stood. Even if there was nothing to report, the person was still working. We were happy with the outcome even though it cost more money than we thought it would. Working with Liberty gave us less pressure and less stress as we age and face our future.

But the notary public that was sent to the house for closing was totally unacceptable. I felt pressured by him. He wanted me to sign things without reading them. If there were two pages of writing and one page of signature, he'd hand me the third page only. I told him I was not signing it and that I wanted to read the papers. He said, “Don’t worry. I'm gonna leave you copies. You have three days to change your mind. Don’t worry about it.” And I didn’t appreciate that at all. It was ridiculous and I complained to Liberty. They consequently checked with the service they used and he was terminated. The rate and terms were fair though and if it wasn’t for the notary public, everything would have been fine.

She was a big reason. There were several months in between, but I went back to Mary because of the fact that she had asked interesting probing questions, not just what I was thinking at that time, and, overall, I wanted to get a feel for what I was wanting to do and some ideas about some options there. The other companies didn’t do that. Everybody was very nice, but Mary took it to the next level.

My application and underwriting process took about a month and a half to complete. I had everything in order and I understood what was going on. I was retired and drawing Social Security, so I was able to get to things that I needed to get to document-wise. The process went fairly smooth as far as I'm concerned. What really helped in this thing was the flow of information and anticipating my needs even though I didn’t need to know about it. My agent out in California said, “Okay. So, we're heading into the weekend. Here’s what's going on through the week. Here’s what you can expect. Nothing to do over this weekend.” We chatted about different things.

That really helped me reduce my anxiety level because I was selling a home and I had remarked to several friends of mine and relatives during the process that my Realtor, less than three miles away, was out of communication and that I can't get any information out of her even when the house sale was going through. However, I was getting so much more information out of Liberty across the country than I would get three miles away from my own version in town. The rates and terms of the reverse mortgage that I received were good. The loan percent is in keeping with the market, only a little higher. The whole plan itself really fit my needs and I can get the kind of home and the area that I want and retain a lot of my own finances, and use somebody else’s money for this.

This was the realtor's first experience with this kind of thing and they were amazed at all the ins and outs. If they could know more or be educated on the upfront side of what those options are out there, that might help because they are the ones who are gonna be interfacing with the potential sellers or buyers of property. As a matter of fact, I introduced my real estate agent to Mary in Texas so that my Realtor can, in Texas, be up to speed and help her clients even more.

During the process of obtaining my mortgage and renewing it, it was the same both times. I was a little taken aback by the people from HUD and the Notary Public. They insisted on going back through all the same questions that I had originally answered and they said it was just a bureaucracy, and I agree with them. I was in the corporate world for a good number of years and it didn't matter whether you got it done right so long as you went by the book. The original application took a month altogether. The folks at Liberty kept me informed at every step of the way. My experience with HUD, although it was time-consuming, was done by phone so that was convenient. But with the Notary Public, I signed 150 different pages of stuff and it was some of the unnecessary things, but I understand it.

Aside from Christopher, I also dealt with a young lady named Felicity and another lady that took over when Chris had to go on emergency leave, and both of them were excellent, too. In terms of the rate and terms of the reverse mortgage I received, I understand the expense that I had to go through, but there were some credits on there that I totally appreciated. Liberty granted me some credits and some of the fees were paid by them because I was a continuing customer and had gone through it before. I enjoyed it and it was so well received on my part.

Working with Liberty helped me a great deal with my retirement. I'm 88 years old and I'm battling cancer. I have a lot of medical bills now and that amount is helping me out. I am taking in advance to try to settle our credit card account and that's gonna take a load off me as well. Liberty has done their part well and I'm perfectly content with it. If anybody approaches me, I would recommend that they try to contact Christopher in particular because he was an excellent representative of their company, and I would tell them to go on and find out for themselves how great Liberty Home is.

I was given paperwork that's about six inches high over the years so that I could read and take a look at everything, and until we got to the end where we actually got a finished product, a lot was based on what the house would estimate for and various things like that for me to decide. Other than that, the rates are reasonable based on what we're doing. I hope that they don't go up a lot over the few years that I am still here and make it a little more difficult, but I expect the house to continue to increase in value and if my wife ever needs to get into bigger amounts of money, it's going to be worth a lot more than it is now if she needs it. I'm very pleased with how Liberty treated me and there weren't any hidden experiences or expenses that I had to deal with because everybody was upfront and very nice about everything.

I'm a civil engineer and I've been involved in FHA and had projects for the last 35 years. When I started through this process with Liberty, I had no idea that FHA was involved and I was really shocked by the amount of paperwork. Had I known it was an FHA mortgage, I would have known that the paperwork would be overwhelming because that is the way that whole system works. Nevertheless, the process was straightforward although we signed an awful lot of documents at closing. Also, as part of this process, we were asked to go through a counseling session on reverse mortgages and what they are. And when I first heard that, I thought it was a waste of my time. My experience with that and with continuing education are not the greatest things in the world, but the counseling session that we went through was very good and informative. I told Ron, our loan processing and originator guy, that I was really surprised about that.

The rates and terms were okay. We did some marginal shopping when we decided to go this route but we went with Ron because he had done some work with a friend of mine who was very happy with what Ron did and liked him a lot. The processing girls out in California were great as well. They called when they needed information and when I needed information in return, they responded very well. That was a long-distance relationship and it was kinda hard to make things work sometimes but they did a very good job. Overall, I like the way Liberty handled the whole situation. We closed the loan about a week ago today and we are supposed to get some documentation and some feedback about all the interests. I'm interested to see how that goes but I expect it will go as well as the whole processing thing did.

I think Liberty and the servicing were two different firms and Liberty's job is on the sales part. The reactions, responses, advice, letter, communications, correspondent, these are all excellent. But when it comes to like matters after the signature, it gets a bit slower. For instance, receiving and clearing the check took almost exactly 10 days. It took almost seven days for them to release the check and once we took the check to the bank, the bank said I need another six days to clear the check.

But about a year ago, Congress passed some legislation reducing the interest rate of the insurance that the federal government requires on reverse mortgages. It went from 5.25% to 4.75%. It turned out to be 0.5% depending on the amount of money that you are insuring. It can be a very small amount of money or it can be a big, significant amount of money. In my case, it turned out to be about $150 a month and I could use an extra $1,800 a year. A second reverse mortgage would cost about $800 to do the paperwork and I would have to go through all kinds of rigamarole again the second time around. But I figured I could get that money back in a little less than six months. After that, it’s all pure gravy and that was why I did the second reverse mortgage.

The Liberty staff has been there when I needed them and they have been excellent. They’ve been attentive, helpful, knowledgeable and courteous. Any time I had a question, I could call them and they would give me a helpful answer. They also stayed in touch with me and kept me aware of everything that was going on at all stages of the proceedings. I couldn’t have asked for a more responsive, more helpful situation so I’m very happy with everything. The rate is very good too. I get more moneys from my investments than what I would pay out on my interest.

Somebody said that a reverse mortgage doesn’t work on my behalf and that in the end, the company is the one that will own my property. I said, “Once I’m gone, who cares?” That’s where I’m at and I just want to understand that all the processes have been done properly. I received messages from one of my loan officers from time to time and the other one whom I had to deal to deal with most of the time answered my calls all the time. He was very helpful even though he told me that he was not in that department. Liberty cannot answer every phone call, but they still helped me.

From start to finish, it took about six weeks to do the application and underwriting. The process was a little longer but we could understand that much of what was going on was for our protection. Also, the rate was what we expected. In the end, Liberty has given us the resources to do some renovations and improvements to our house that we would not have been able to do previously.

Instead of answering my questions, they were leaving it on somebody else to do it. Then the people that the loan was turned over to sent me paperwork and told me that I didn’t have a loan with them. It was weird. They said they'd be sending me a welcoming package which I would get in a couple of days. But I still haven't gotten it. All I've gotten is information on the loan. And they turned around and even as I talked to them. They want my wife to give them permission for me to talk them. But I'm on the paperwork as a non-borrowing spouse so I don't know why I couldn't get the information.

The attorneys he was dealing with, however, didn’t know too. He said, ”We’ll tell them to find out because they have to know.” And they found out. The time in the wait was a little extensive, but we are going forward. I measured by results as well as time, but it was going in the right direction. Because of our age, the only thing we did was have a walk-in bathtub installed. Overall, I had a good experience with Liberty. If you need their service, it is worth having.

The first time I started with Liberty, things got confusing and I quit. I was gonna start all over again with another company but Liberty heard about it. And then they told me that they already got all my papers laid out and was only gonna take less time. However, the certificate of counseling already expired, and they said that all I had to do was to renew it. So, I went back to Liberty.

The person that I worked with throughout that process was fantastic. It was a lot of patience on their part because when they sent me something to answer, I took my time in answering it. Also, I felt good with their customer service. I had to go to city hall and get a deed to the house to have proof that I own the house. I told the young lady I was working with at that time that it was gonna take a little time to do that. And so she did that for me by way of the computer. I would recommend Liberty to a friend since they were very good and very helpful.

I spoke with a counselor and I had to go through the process of applying for a certificate, knowing what was involved with the reverse mortgage as well as the pros and cons of it. The loan officer I worked with was also very understanding and informative. I started out considering the reverse mortgage with the flex line of credit and a variable interest rate, and I questioned him a bit about going the other route. He openly talked about both types of the mortgage, listened very closely, understood what I was asking and answered in a very professional, polite and helpful manner. Staying in contact with them was very easy as well. It took about two months which was quick and I’m happy with the terms that Liberty gave me. It was what I was attempting to get and Liberty helped me accomplish my goal. In summary, I was very happy with the people, the treatment I received and the results that I achieved.

However, I had an issue with one of the reps that I was communicating with. I left her a message and she never bothered to call me back at the very end, which ticked me off. I wish she had returned the phone call and had said that she got my message. Another thing I got annoyed with was the process where I have to talk to someone and they'll explain to me the ins and outs of the program. It was a waste of time and money. I could've read up the stuff, and there was some literature that was sent.

More recently, I'm waiting for information on customer service regarding a welcome package that their guy told me about. I can't find their rep's card yet I want to call Liberty and say that I need $500. Although I feel they're not telling me enough and that they should give me the option of having access to the money, the people at Liberty are very nice and I would recommend this company.

I had filed for my social security and I got a pension from Boeing, but it was just enough to make the house payment with a little bit left over. So, I started out with a loan company and I didn't like working with them. They sell loans all the time and I really had a hard time understanding people and getting answers from them. I was looking at their website and I was gonna apply for a modification to lower the payment. I saw the thing on there for the company that did the reverse mortgage and I decided to click on it and it took me right to Liberty. I called them up and they were very helpful.

I was pretty leery about going in. I even called a friend of mine who had his house refinanced not too long ago. I talked to his loan guy because he said he was a real straight shooter. He told me as well that they are governed by Federal regulations. So, whoever I'll go with has gotta stick by those regulations. I needed to make sure they're not some fly by night. So, I checked Liberty out to make sure they were legit and they were. They were very straightforward and patient because I told the guy my mother died recently. I told them my main concern was I wanted to keep this house. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to afford everything even with my pension and my social security. I probably could have done things differently. I probably could have simply refinanced if I would have started doing it about six months earlier.

For my situation, I finally decided that doing a reverse mortgage was my best option because I found out that I don't have to stay with the reverse mortgage. If I decided to go back to work and if I wanted to refinance the house again, I could get back to the way it was. I'm not married, I don't have any kids and I only have a dog. So, I don't have anybody to leave anything to. If I decide to stay in here until I die, I can simply clear my head and figure out what I'm gonna do. And then 10 years from now, if I get married and I want to sell, I still have some equity build-up in the house. I paid 222 for the house and it was appraised at 570. I only owed $120,000-$130,000 on the house and I can always refinance it in a conventional mortgage again.

When I found out that time was getting short that I had to make a huge house payment because I was falling behind, they really got into gear. I have a truck and it had broken down, so they sent people out to the house and had me sign the papers. I didn't have to leave my house except to send stuff. They were very good and I really enjoyed working with them. Ron and Aliana were very helpful and were nice to talk to. The guy that I was working with for the most part was very professional and everyone I talked to there was professional, too. The reverse mortgage worked out for me and for the first time in a long time, I don't have to worry about anything as far as finances go. I can live in my house till I die, and I don't ever have to worry about making a payment again. It was a very positive experience and I really appreciated their help. Liberty was awesome.

Liberty told me to tell them what I wanted and that three days from then, they'll give it to me. I gave my blank check, a voided check from my account number, and I put it right into their account. Then, I got my bank statement the other day and I got $5,000. But there was a $20 charge for a wire transfer. I called my bank and asked what it was for. The bank rep said that Liberty usually charges for wire transfers and she didn't know why they would use wire transfer. I didn't know either. Liberty told me they'll get me what I want in three days, but it didn't come in three days. It was more like five and if they told me it would be that long, I wouldn't have cared less. I am gonna talk to Liberty about that. They pay me interest on the money that I'm not using at all and $20 eats up the interest.

The staff at Liberty was very good. The guy I worked with the most pushed things through. He is located in Northern Indiana, so we had some mutual things in common since I’m also from Indiana so it was easy to communicate. He kept in contact with me. He’d send me an email, text or phone call and and would tell me where we stood and where we were going. He helped me through everything in the right direction and got things accomplished a little quicker than it normally would have taken. The cost was a little expensive, but working with Liberty helped me with my budget, and it accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. I’ve already passed on Liberty's information to another person telling him that I found Liberty to be a good company to work with.

Liberty made the process of obtaining the mortgage very pleasant. The first person I spoke to, Liz, was awesome and everybody after that made the process so easy because it was confusing. Everybody was very patient and explained everything thoroughly, which was really helpful and made me feel very comfortable. They also knew what they were doing and I felt that I could trust them to help me make a decision. Even when we were in the waiting process of going through underwriting and approval, Liz called me in regular intervals just to keep me up to date on what was happening. The application and underwriting process took about three weeks and their rate and terms were great.

I was very impressed with Liberty. They were professional and detailed. Nowadays, people can't find that. Before the situation could come up and I would even know how to ask, they were already prepared for it and answered any questions I had. They were the best I've ever worked with and everything was good. We're happy and feel at ease that we decided to do a reverse mortgage with Liberty. And now that it's all finished, I still feel confident that we made the right decision.

The Liberty rep Ron seems to know everything much better than the previous rep. Whenever something came up, he would call me, while the previous one hardly ever got in touch with me. He would answer whatever I would question him on and if not, he would tell me to hold on, that he was gonna check with me and it would be the same day. He would either call me or leave me a message to call him back. I felt very comfortable with him. However, I’ve been trying to talk to him because I keep getting all these letter things for mortgage protection. I don't know why I need mortgage protection when I’m supposed to have the mortgage protection already. I had also asked him some questions on why they had withdrawn $1,800 and some in my checking account because they said they had made an error.

Liberty took a little over 60 days, and that was better than what I had gone through with AAG. The only thing I didn’t agree with was the appraisal because I had started at 350 and when Liberty took it over, it was at 325. Then at the end of the closing, it came down to 300. Not only that, but I had already had the repairs that were demanded by AAG. We had to paint and take out the sidings ‘cause they were worn out. They had me take off the rod iron and the bars on the windows ‘cause they didn’t have that automatic lock. I had to pay for all this and that cost me over $2,000.

Also, when I went with Liberty, Ron came out saying that he was gonna give me $5,000 cash, and he said, “The reason we do that is because we don’t want you to blow your money so fast.” I understand that, but $5,000 barely caught me up with the expenses. I haven’t even paid the guy for the repairs and I haven’t even paid my car off. Plus after going through everything, there were a lot of fees that I didn’t expect. I can see why Ron was trying to have me not take out so much, because he was telling me that they took out so much for the mortgage payment and the taxes.

The application process took a month and a half. It was a lot of paperwork but I still I understood. I had twice as much paperwork with another loan company that I was really frustrated with. But this one was a lot easier to go through. When I called and had questions or anything like that, they got right back to me. My original loan officer was great. She answered a lot of questions, walked me through the process, and she explained anything I didn’t understand. I also had to take that course online to see if I understood everything and everyone was very cooperative, very congenial. If I had any other questions at any time, someone has to take the call to all of them. They knew everything that I was asking, how to answer me, and they kept reminding me that at any point that I wanted to back out, I could.

The rates are also good. I know that I can draw on the money that is put on the side and all I have to do is fill out a form and get it over to where the account is. Though in the first year, there’s a limited amount of money I could draw on, I like the fact that while the money is in the account, it’s accruing interest higher than a bank. I also liked the idea that if anything happens to me, there is a year after I pass away that they have a chance to find people that will inherit whatever is left, whether to buy the property, to sell it, and all that. That was a big plus.

I would recommend Liberty to people in my situation who don’t understand what the process is. I've heard a lot of bad things that had happened to people in past years. Somebody I knew ran out of money and she was put out of her house. This to me meant very much, to be able to take care of myself and to do some things around the house that need repair.

Four days before signing, they asked me for my husband’s death certificate. In the meantime, we were moving and everything was packed. The certificate was in all the pods to be shipped out here so I couldn’t give the certificate to them within that period. I told them that I could give them the day he died and where he’s buried instead. But if they knew they needed one, they shouldn't have waited so long to ask for it. We went on and on about it and it was crazy. Other than that, the rates and terms of the reverse mortgage were fine. I had one before so I knew what to expect. And when it was over with, I took a deep sigh of relief, came home, and celebrated.

Right now, I would be getting a statement from them once a month unless something goes awry with house insurance that they need that I’ll have. And if anyone asks me about Liberty Home, I'd wish them all the best and hope they do well. I hope Liberty does well because after all, we’re all just trying to make a living when push comes to shove.

There was also an awful lot of paperwork that wasn’t necessary, but we got through it. Joanne, the loan officer, helped me a lot doing the paperwork because I’m not good with stuff like that. She explained everything and I felt really comfortable working with her. The interest rate was quite high but working with Liberty made life a lot easier. We're not getting behind on our bills anymore. We were happy and satisfied with Liberty. We had a good experience with them and everything went fine. If friends ask, they should go ahead with Liberty.

Everything was done through phone calls and online. It was an easy process. I was amazed by how much easier it was this time than when we bought the house. They emailed me forms to fill out and we filled them out and scanned them and sent them back. I also called them about it and they talked me through it. Then, when the notary came in, we did not have to go to them. They came to the house. And that was very nice. Then, their rates and terms were better than what we had before. And especially on the mortgage insurance, the rate itself was a little bit lower. I'm kicking myself for not doing it a year earlier where the rates were even better but we are satisfied with it.

We were impressed with the ease of working with the people at Liberty, their understanding, and their willingness to go get an answer and come back. Also, I was very comfortable with them and that was the biggest thing. They were always very quick to respond to my emails and questions, even on weekends and after hours. Nelda was the one we worked with and she was very quick, very helpful and I always got the feeling that if she did not know, she would say that and find out and get back to me.

It was three weeks from beginning to closing, which wasn't very long. We have reduced a little bit of money out of it to cover some expenses we have coming up because we don’t like having payments and bills and all without having to dip into what we have left for retirement and all. However, we think that HUD’s reverse mortgage consultation requirement that you have to do and we've had to pay $125 for is ridiculous. But that's something Liberty cannot do anything with.

We picked Liberty Home among other companies and their application process wasn't too difficult. It took us just a couple of weeks and we were a little bit slower than they would have liked, but we’re older. We talked to Eric, our loan officer, every day while we were doing the loan and he guided us through it. All of them at Liberty were super nice. We'd have one rep who would do one thing then somebody else would do a different thing for us. Also, we're from Oklahoma and they were in California, so we had to get on the same language terms and they were good about that. And when we didn't understand something, they would explain it to us. The rate of the mortgage was a bit high but we don't have the most perfect credit. So, we went with that and it was to our satisfaction. So far, the reverse mortgage is helping us get some things done and we would recommend Liberty Home.

I had two reps who called me from Liberty Home Equity. I like Howard, the first guy that I’ve talked to. He was very nice, very knowledgeable and very helpful. He was personable and easy to talk to. And then, I went through underwriting and talked to two other girls. I have signed paperwork and they sent me some paperwork to do. I had a bankruptcy which I informed Howard of and the reps wanted detailed information. I sent all the detailed information to them but they claimed they never got it and we went round and round about trying to find the paperwork. And then, I got to Peggy, the loan officer. She was very nice. At that time, I was frustrated and worn out. The process was very complicated. Nonetheless, we got through it and now they’re trying to send me over to someone and loan something. I’ve switched it over to them which is okay.

But when we did finish the loan, there was a need for a dishwasher and they were asking to put the dishwasher in and I was told it would be $1,000 of service. It’s up to me to go and find a dishwasher so I went to Lowe's. I was going to get the dishwasher, but it doesn’t make sense that they won’t pay for it until after an HUD rep comes out here and acknowledged that the dishwasher had been put in, which was absolutely absurd. So, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t do it. I would not recommend the reverse mortgage.

However, we got into a situation where we've been using the reverse mortgage to close the purchase on our house and we couldn’t get it closed because there were so many screw ups in terms of the paperwork and documents. For instance, they wanted our tax returns. We filed a joint tax return but they said they had to have a separate request for my wife and request for mine. And it's the same tax return. It's crazy. And then, when they sent it in and I signed it in one spot and we had to send it back overnight because it had to be signed in two spots. I had to sign mine and I had to sign hers and yet it was the same tax return.

And then, we have a company corporation and they didn’t ask us to sign anything and tried to get a copy of that. It got turned down. I told them that unless I signed something, they're gonna be turned down. But the lady I was talking to didn't understand that. So finally, she said, “We found that we have to get your signature.” And I told them that to begin with. So then we sent the overnight package. It has cost Liberty a lot of money sending all those overnight packages which were unnecessary. Also, I was really disappointed that I could not get the no closing cost when I came back. But we got it done and finally, we got our house closed. It was a long, painful process to wrap up. It took four months.

But, they're a great company and I would recommend them. I talked to a few companies and I felt that Liberty went through all the hard explanations and was a little more upfront about what it's gonna cost and everything. The rates were a little high but I know that they have to pay so much to the government and so forth.

I read some of the things lending providers had to offer and overall, I thought Liberty was going to be the one we needed to go to. So our solution was maybe to give a thought to reverse mortgage and speaking with Pete from Liberty Mutual gave us a good insight that it was probably what we should do. I talked to a few others that were in a similar business but I didn’t get the same type of response. That was the reason we picked Liberty. Pete was very helpful and he did an excellent job of laying out what we were looking for and he answered all our questions. He followed-up with paperwork that pretty much covered everything that we were dealing with directly with Liberty. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. They let us know that we were gonna have to speak to an HUD person. We had no idea that that would be something we’d have to do, but we had to be counseled by them. That was able to take place online so that wasn’t entirely on a phone conversation, which helped.

We started in January and it was basically completed in May. The process was lengthy which we figured it would be. I understood that. Anytime you borrow or make use of money, they have to know every detail of your life, and it’s time-consuming. We have quite a few years behind us that had to be accounted for. And so many legal things have taken place over the years as well.

We tried to give everything that they were looking for. There were several people that needed to have that information but each one of them was trying to do their very best to get the information they were looking for. They kept us informed of what they were looking for and did their best to explain it to us. Apparently, they have to deal with underwriters and each underwriter had a different thought. That's the way it looked to us. Still, I would recommend Liberty. The reverse mortgage has definitely put us in a different light. We had a substantial equity in the home and that’s gonna make our life simpler and easier. We are very pleased with that outcome.

Dan was fine and he was a gentleman. He’s been doing the reverse mortgage for a lot of years and I went through him, but then we had the person at Liberty, Feliz, and Dan had to go through her. It was a little time consuming, but it wasn’t that bad. I talked to Feliz for only thrice the whole time. The mortgage process was mostly all handled by Dan and he did a good job.

During the process for the reverse mortgage, they required some background information, what assets my mom had and general information. They went through the financials and gave options so it was a very open discussion which was a good thing. Liberty did a lot of the leg work for us and then laid out what the impact would be such as how the program works and specifically a little more detail in terms of how it would affect the siblings, of myself and living across at my mom's house, if there would be any equity or any value if we sold the house and paid Liberty off and if there would be any money remaining if something were to happen to her. They walked us through the whole process and it was a good experience.

The application process was very easy but the actual loan document and going through the notary was not. I was sitting there for five hours finding documents. That’s normal and it’s like buying a house. It’s the same process that you gotta go through but you have a lot of documents. The tech for Liberty handled everything for us and did a fabulous job. The application and underwriting process took a month and a half but here were a lot of dead times on our part for thinking through the process before committing. My mom was also a little concerned about going through it. So, there were delays but we committed to it and got it rolling. The documents were prepared, we reviewed them and approved them, and then it was all up to the notary coming in and signing documentation.

The loan officer was very humble and very kind to my mom in trying to reassure her that she made this decision and she’ll feel better. She also told her that she got some money coming so she may start to get some phone calls so she should not answer the phone. And that if she doesn’t understand the caller ID, let them leave a message. He also told her that she’s in her '80s and may not think clearly. She could be subject to agreeing upon things or giving her social security number or account number information to where it is not required nor is it needed. So he was very personable, which I really appreciate. After working with Liberty, my mother understands where she's at but there's still a little apprehension in terms of what I have done.

I went in online with what I thought our home's value was and went through the program to see what equity we would get out of it. We had six years of our mortgage left and I started calculating. If I don’t have to make the house payment, how would it help build our savings? We have excellent credit. We had all the numbers and we were all ready to talk because we keep a filing system. The process was very fast, smooth and streamlined. But there were a lot of papers to sign, which is to be anticipated when dealing with the government. Based on the other company I talked to, I was expecting it to run for 30 to 45 days. We started the process on May 1st and we ended up closing on May 18th.

All of the folks that work at Liberty made it easy. They were very friendly, professional and excellent to work with. When they said they were gonna call, they called and all the appointments were set up. The rates were good considering where the housing market is today. The value of our home came in at what I thought it would, which was good. The reverse mortgage has stabilized our financial situation and it has made our month to month a little bit smoother. Now, we’re a little bit stress-free. I would highly recommend Liberty.

Liberty came in and appraised our house at $15,000 less than AAG and Live Well's appraisal value. I live in a historic home and spent 40,000 on the house before they ever got here. The inspector came in and the work I did had to be inspected again. A second appraiser came in and he brought up all kinds of things the first appraiser didn’t complain about. He gave me a picture of one thing and I said that we can get it fixed. He then said that they want everything similar to the picture to be fixed. This house has 26 huge windows and they wanted the trim inside the crawl bar painted again.

Liberty came in and made the same complaint but they said I can have five windows done on the side and I agreed. This house is worth $175,000 and Liberty says it’s worth 160. Then, they took out $34,000 for paying my property taxes for the next ten years and my insurance. The other two companies weren’t gonna do that. I complained about that to Liberty and they were supposed to call me back today.

Also, Liberty gave me a loan officer who didn't communicate well to replace the first guy I talked to. All of a sudden, I got a call from another guy who was an appraiser asking if a certain day would be okay for me. I told the loan officer that I wasn't going to be home on the day the appraiser suggested. She then told me that she would have the appraiser come after I got back. Still, the appraiser called again saying that he wanted to come the next day when I wasn't going to be home.

There was also a time when the appraiser had to keep coming back to my place. He wanted to know about the shed and he also knew that there were a couple of places I was supposed to paint. Then he said that there were extra charges every time he has had to come over to my place and so what he wanted me to do was get everything done before he came. Still, I was left in the dark about what he was charging. So, I called the loan officer and told her that she better call me back. When she did, I asked her how much the appraiser was charging me and she said she didn't know. That was when I told her I didn't want to work with them anymore. Eventually, she got on the ball because I told her that. Thereafter, she got a hold of me right away and told me how much extra I was having to pay for two or three extra trips.

Also, Premier Reverse Closings, the people I close with, they sent me a text for $15 and it said “In connection with your recently closed transactions, enclosed you will find our check representing a recording fee refund. Also enclosed for your records is an amended final closing statement and/or closing statement reflecting the final recording charges. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at the number above.” This now means that I have to call them because though I'm in Michigan, they sent me the papers for some lady in Florida. She took a loan out for $124,000. I shouldn’t know that information. But then I know who that lady is and exactly where she lives.

Now, I got a feeling that she knows all about me now too. Somebody turned papers around and I’m kinda mad about that. I don't want my stuff going to anybody if it's none of their business. Nevertheless, the reverse mortgage is more or less like money in the bank to me. I get interest for leaving the money with Liberty. Once a year, I'm going to grab the interest and take it.

However, the underwriting and application process dragged on for a while because there were some things that they wanted to ask us to bring. At that time, we were already on the road, all of our things are packed so there were things that they could have asked us prior to leaving Georgia. Then, every time they want the DocuSign, the phone kept cooping out on my wife. If the phone was in good working order, then we were doing fine. But if it wasn't, it's very hard to get that DocuSign. You have to sign your name 40,000 times and every day, there are several DocuSigns you have to get on your computer and sign. Other than that, Liberty's interest rate is okay and normal and they didn't cheat us. Overall, while Liberty was great, the whole process of buying a house and reverse mortgage was very stressful. I'm glad that it's all finished and it was really nice to get done with it.