A grant from The Retirement Research Foundation in Chicago will support The John Marshall Law School’s ongoing educational and outreach programs on reverse mortgages.
The $34,202 grant will specifically underwrite John Marshall’s Reverse Mortgage Project – Suburban Outreach Initiative which educates low- and moderate-income older adults in the south and west suburbs outside of Chicago. The law school’s Fair Housing Legal Support Center & Clinic will manage the grant. Established in 1992, the Fair Housing Legal Support Center educates and trains the public about predatory lending practices and fair housing law.
The Reverse Mortgage Project is part of the Fair Housing Center’s predatory lending program. The Center has studied the negative effects that reverse mortgages can have and believes that minorities in Chicago and in certain suburbs have been targeted by unscrupulous lenders who sought to defraud them of their property. The grant will support the outreach and education of attorneys and older adults about the complexities of reverse mortgages. The effort also will identify the potential impacts that reverse mortgages can have on home ownership and estate planning.
The intent of the Suburban Outreach Initiative is to ensure that senior homeowners do not fall victim to predatory and unscrupulous lenders. Eight public presentations are being scheduled.
“I am looking forward to the opportunity to take our on-going reverse mortgage awareness program to audiences outside the City of Chicago,” said R. Dennis Smith, Project Manager for John Marshall’s Fair Lending & Home Preservation Law Project. “Reverse mortgages are neither good nor bad, but they are much more financially complex than the simplistic impression about these loans left by commercial advertising.”
The Retirement Research Foundation aims to improve the quality of life for the country’s older adults. The Retirement Research Foundation is one of the nation’s first private foundations devoted exclusively to aging and retirement issues.
John Marshall’s Fair Housing Legal Support Center & Clinic is dedicated to educating the public about fair housing law and providing legal assistance to private or public organizations that seek to eliminate discriminatory housing practices.
