Only
one situation. When a person is elderly, cannot work any longer, has no fixed income
of any kind and still has a mortgage with more than 20% of the home’s value
still due. The reason for this is simple. The bank cannot approve this person for a HELOC, just like they
couldn’t approve that same person for a refinance or even a mortgage. Therefore, in this
situation a reverse mortgage is required to access the equity. The additional
benefit to a reverse mortgage is its ability to lend more than the value of the
home, sometimes up to 110% LTV.