Gerontology Institute Examines Rising Costs of Homeownership for Massachusetts Elderly

By Robert Geary

Older homeowners in Massachusetts are confronted with obstacles that make "aging in place," continuing to live in the homes they have occupied and would choose to remain, an increasingly difficult proposition. The problems senior citizens face, especially moderate to low--income homeowners, was the focus of a recent State House forum, which was sponsored by the Gerontology Institute of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies and the Massachusetts Legislative Caucus on Older Citizens' Concerns.

The public forum brought together experts in consumer law, elder and consumer advocacy, and property assessment and taxation. Ellen Bruce, associate director of the Gerontology Institute, welcomed the 150 or more attendees and panelists, who included Leonard Raymond, executive director of Homeowner Options for Massachusetts Elders; Anne Carney, co-chair of the legislative committee for Mass Association of Assessing Officers; and Odette Williamson, who is staff attorney of the National Consumer Law Center.

All speakers stressed the many problems elder homeowners face in today's fiscal environment. Nearly 70 percent of elders living in Massachusetts own homes, and many are finding the rising costs for maintaining these homes to be a burden.

The panel agreed on three major factors that threaten moderate to low-income homeowners' abilities to age in place: property tax burdens, rising costs of home maintenance, and debt burdens, including loans from predatory lenders for whom older home-owners are particular targets.
Carney, who also serves as assessor for the town of Easton, stressed how steep increases in property taxes have placed many older people in disastrous financial conditions, while local municipalities struggle with their diminishing budgets to provide core services. In the past eight years, property taxes have increased as much as 50 percent in some communities.

Home maintenance, especially for the older structures that many elder homeowners own, is costly and rising, easily draining the incomes of those with modest assets, according to Raymond. To remain in their homes, many elders need to install adaptive equipment to cope with disabilities and increasing frailty. While there are revenues available for such installations, few know about them. Panelists stressed the need for educational programs to increase awareness of the options available to elders.

Raymond estimated a 164 percent increase in debt burdens experienced by senior citizen homeowners over the last 10 years. With property values at an all-time high in Massachusetts, the resulting higher costs for insuring that property have been keenly felt by homeowners with limited incomes.

While tapping into equity through loans can be a secure way for homeowners to meet financial obligations, predatory lenders have aggressively targeted elders, especially the most socially isolated, offering loans that appear deceptively attractive. Odette Williamson said that many elders think they are not qualified to take on secured loans, a belief encouraged by predatory lenders, causing owners to end up with little or no equity in their property. Foreclosures have become more common for elder homeowners.

Several area councils on aging were represented and told of strategies they have offered their clients, such as reverse mortgages and working with heirs to help the elders meet their financial needs. Going forward, when the state's current financial status improves, all agreed that legislation should be enacted to increase homeowners' asset and exemption limits.

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