LITTLE ROCK — On Dec. 19, a large oak smashed through the carport and bedroom of David Jackson’s house at 2109 S. Martin St. in Little Rock, coming to rest a few inches from Jackson’s head.
After that drama came a long wait and unreturned phone calls to the company that holds his mortgage and received the insurance check of $45,000 for repairs to the house, Jackson said.
Meantime, Jackson, 80, who relies on Social Security and food stamps, has been paying $590 a month to rent an apartment since his home is unlivable.
Could the Democrat-Gazette help? he asked.
Depends, I said; tell me more.
Well, Jackson has what is called a reverse mortgage loan, which means that the homeowner will receive payments up to the total equity the homeowner has in the house.
But the lender can claim ownership of the house after the homeowner no longer lives there.
It’s designed for retirees who need help with living expenses.
So much for reverse mortgages. This is not about that subject per se.
But the exotic nature of the story continues.
The insurer of Jackson’s house? Lloyd’s of London, long known for the unusual things it has covered, such as Betty Grable’s legs, Bruce Springsteen’s voice and Lady Gaga’s concerts.
Lloyd’s sent the check for $45,000 to the lender, Reverse Mortgage Solutions, of Spring, Texas, which had bought the loan from Bank of America, according to Jackson.
(As it turned out, that transaction left a door ajar in this investigation.)
All interesting, but my first inclination was that this was a personal business problem, and the newspaper wasn’t in a position to help.
A photo of Jackson looking at his damaged house ran in the Dec. 22 paper and Jackson was quoted in an accompanying article about the windstorm that wreaked damage across the state.
No matter. The paper has no “ownership” of his story.
Still, it seemed to me that Jackson’s situation warranted a few calls to state agencies, just to see if there was a bigger story.
Banking? No. Insurance? No. The state Securities Department turned out to be right one.
Seems that it regulates reverse mortgage lenders that are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., such as Reverse Mortgage Solutions.
Bingo.
Karyn Tierney, an attorney for the department, said she’d give the company a call.
Tierney said she sent a “nasty letter” and e-mail to the company. “I told them I wanted a detailed explanation of what happened.”
Two days later, I got a call from Jackson, who said, wonder of wonders, the company says it will overnight the check to him.
Friday morning - right on deadline for this column - Tierney calls me with the good news. A check for half the $45,000 is on a FedEx truck headed for Jackson, with the other half to be cut when the repair work is done. She gave me the tracking number.
Trust but verify.
If you have a tip, call Jack Weatherly at (501) 378-3518 or e-mail him at jweatherly@arkansasonline.com
Business, Pages 67 on 03/10/2013