Mortgage Matters

Wesley Knight 0:00
This is a KU NB studios original program. The content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 jazz and more the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education to

Roland Daniels 0:43
Good Morning Las Vegas. Welcome to mortgage matters. I'm Roland Daniels, a certified mortgage advisor with Geneva financial. My NMLS number is 355859, company. NMLS number is 42056, I'm here this morning with my fantastic co host. Heidi Griffith, good morning.

Heidi Griffith 1:01
Heidi, good morning. Roland, how are you? I am doing awesome. Happy Sunday. Happy Sunday. Little warm out there. It's getting hot. It is, it is, this is, this is the beginning of summer. It is. I'm Heidi Griffith, I am also a mortgage advisor, and I'm your Director of Client Services. My NMLS number is 2247754,

Roland Daniels 1:21
today we're talking about something a lot of people avoid, but need to hear what happens to your house after you pass

Heidi Griffith 1:28
away. Yeah, if you own a home and you don't have a clear plan, you know, your loved ones could potentially face probate legal fees or worse. You know, lose the home. So we decided to make this episode about making sure that your legacy is protected. So before we get started with all that information, we just want to talk real quick about some upcoming education that we've got coming up, right? So we actually have an online class on Tuesday, June 10, that is from three to 4pm and like I said, it's online, easy to attend. We've had really great turnout on this class. It's an hour, sometimes an hour and a half, with questions, but we cover everything. It's held alongside Nevada housing division. So we actually have a representative from Nevada housing that covers all of their down payment programs, and they've got some good ones. They've got a first time home buyer program. And like we always like to mention first time home buyer it doesn't mean that you've never owned a home

Roland Daniels 2:21
before. It just means that you haven't owned in the last three years. Yeah, so if you

Heidi Griffith 2:24
haven't owned a home or been on title or a deed in the last three years, you're qualified as a first time home buyer. They've got two and 4% down payment options on that, then they've got the program that we tend to use the most home is possible, that's either a three or a 5% down payment Help Program. And you can make up to $165,000 a year. You can qualify for that program. You can also own a home in another state, can't you? You sure can. So

Roland Daniels 2:51
if you owned a home, say, in California, and you want to rent it out, and you decided that you wanted to move here to Las Vegas, you're good to go.

Heidi Griffith 2:58
Yeah. So there'll be a rep. Josie will actually be online with us. She'll be talking about all those programs. We'll be talking about the mortgage process. There'll be a Realtor that will be talking about, you know, what it looks like once you get pre approved and you're out looking at homes. So it's an hour, an hour and a half tops, that's well spent. You get your home buyer certificate that makes you eligible for all of the Nevada housing divisions, down payment programs. It also makes you eligible for all of the no matter rural, it does down payment programs,

Roland Daniels 3:25
doesn't it? Yep, and you'll receive that certificate probably within 24 to 48 hours. Yeah, you know

Heidi Griffith 3:29
if, if you're thinking about purchasing home and down payment is holding you back, first and foremost, you're not alone. 68% of people don't buy homes because of the down

Roland Daniels 3:38
payment. Yes, that is the number one barrier to homeownership, and

Heidi Griffith 3:41
this kind of takes that barrier away, doesn't it? Does. It does. So if you're interested you'd like to register, you're more than welcome to give us a call or text us. We're at 702-210-2057, again, that number is 702-210-2057, you can also hop on our Facebook page. That's mortgage matters radio. There's actually a link there that you can register from as well. And we want to invite you to another event that we're actually going to be part of, that's on Saturday June 7, from 10am to 1pm and we also want to invite you to another event that we're proud to be part of. So on Saturday June 7, from 10am to 1pm we'll be alongside na rep, the National Association of real estate brokers at the second annual housing fair that's going to be hosted by neighborhood housing services of Southern Nevada, and that's going to be at Mater Academy East Campus, and

Roland Daniels 4:30
it's an event for renters and home buyers. There will be housing information, financial resources, and of course, nareb will have a booth there where you can learn all about the different tools and the programs to help you move forward towards a stable housing and home ownership, we will be there, and we'd love to see you absolutely All right, let's get into today's main topic. We talk a lot about what it looks like when you actually buy a home, but today's conversation is about something that comes later. So. Something a lot of folks don't think about until it's too late. What happens to your house when you're no longer here?

Heidi Griffith 5:06
Yeah, I know it's not a fun topic, right? It's not, it's not, but it really is an important topic. Your home might be your biggest asset. In most instances, it is your biggest asset, don't you agree 100% Yeah. And if something happens to you, the home can either be a gift or it can be a burden to people you leave behind. So it really all depends on how you plan. And

Roland Daniels 5:25
today's conversation is for anyone who owns a home or has parents or grandparents who do whether the house is fully paid off or maybe it still has a mortgage, we are about to share, what could actually save your family 1000s of dollars and a lot of unnecessary stress,

Heidi Griffith 5:43
I agree. So let's start with the big one. Let's start with probate, because there's a lot of misinformation around this, right? There is in Nevada, if you pass away and your home is only in your name, not a trust, it potentially has to go through probate. And probate is a legal process where the court decides what's gonna happen to your

Roland Daniels 6:00
property? If there's real property involved, it will have to go through probate. And I know basically firsthand, not basically, you know firsthand, I do that probate takes time, months or even more than a year. It costs money, and it's public. A lot of people don't realize that even if they have a will, the House still has to go through probate unless steps we're taking to avoid it. So that's why title matters. Who's on the title determine what happens. A mortgage is not ownership. Title is and many people never look at it after buying. Yeah. So

Heidi Griffith 6:34
can you kind of because you went through probate with your father, right? I did. So why don't you kind of explain what you experienced and why it kind of went down that way.

Roland Daniels 6:44
Well, for I would say, at least 20 years, I tried to convince my father to actually get a trust. We had a will in place, but no trust. I understood the importance of having a trust, but unfortunately, in our community, that's something that's not taught when it comes to trust. Wills are because they're sold, at least back in the day they were, you know, only 50 bucks, right? So when it comes to 50 bucks, compared to a few $100 in our community, 50 bucks sounded better,

Heidi Griffith 7:11
right? So he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't do a trust. So there was a will, there was a will, but real property isn't going to be part of that will. Unfortunately not. And unfortunately he passed, yes, and you're his only

Roland Daniels 7:25
heir, am I correct? I'm the sole heir, right? And I still had to go through probate. And unfortunately, that was during COVID. It happened right before COVID, so it took, usually, probate processes, probably like six

Heidi Griffith 7:37
months, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. Depends, on average, six months, right?

Roland Daniels 7:41
Okay. But for me, with COVID, when the courts shut down, it took me close to two years to

Heidi Griffith 7:46
complete probate, wow. And you had to hire an attorney. I

Roland Daniels 7:49
had to hire an attorney. So I had to interview attorneys and figure out what would be cost effective for me. And I was told that you can pay an attorney hourly fees, or you can follow the battery by statute, and how they deal with real property when it comes to probate, right? So when it came to the cost, I figured that the battery by statue way would be the way to go, so I don't have to pay the realtor fees on an hourly basis, attorney fees. Attorney fees. Yes, sorry,

Heidi Griffith 8:16
that's okay. It happens we see a realtor a lot. So it was a long, expensive process.

Roland Daniels 8:22
It was almost two years, and I want to say probably close to 18 grand.

Heidi Griffith 8:28
Wow. And again, that's that was not for everybody, because your dad had some, he had some more than land, right? Yes, so, so not always that costly. But if you know, unfortunately, you didn't have those. Means what would happen?

Roland Daniels 8:43
There's a possibility that the state can actually take ownership of that property, or maybe the attorney that you hired a lot of times. There's a possibility that they could put a lien against the property to make sure that they're paid, or that property is sold, and then you would get the proceeds after the attorney fees, after the attorney fees and the creditors, all of the probate fees, and then you're left with what the difference is. So

Heidi Griffith 9:07
a trust would have completely alleviated all that, and that could alleviate that for another family, of

Roland Daniels 9:13
course, because when it comes to a trust, everything is private, and it passes from as is determined inside of the trust. So if I wanted to leave it to my daughter or maybe my brother, I can just say I'm leaving this property to my brother inside of the trust, and they just have to follow the instructions inside of the

Heidi Griffith 9:32
trust. Right, right? There's clear, precise instructions on how to proceed, and

Roland Daniels 9:37
most importantly, it bypasses probate.

Heidi Griffith 9:39
So I know there's a lot of misconceptions out there about probate and real estate and all of that kind of stuff, right there is, let's do this. Let's talk about some myths versus facts, things people might think happen, but they don't necessarily give me some myths around when you pass and you've got some real estate.

Roland Daniels 9:57
First myth is, maybe. The my spouse will automatically inherit the house

Heidi Griffith 10:03
because, just because we're married, right, just because we're married, right? What's a fact

Roland Daniels 10:08
only if they are on title, the property is in a trust or deeded correctly. But we just want to make sure that we're wanted to say we are not attorneys legally, no.

Heidi Griffith 10:19
So some of the things that I've kind of seen in my journey in real estate, right, right? That kind of put people in limbo when their partner or their parent or their grandparent passed, was the way title was held. And again, we're not attorneys. We're not going to even guide you on how you want to hold title, but if, let's just say I purchased a house, right? My partner wasn't on title with me. He decided that we weren't going to use his income to purchase it's just going to be a My name only. I pass away. My partner could be faced with probate, depending on how everything was set up, right? So you you want to make sure that you speak with a professional when you're deciding how you're going to take title, right, and how it's going to be vested just to protect everyone involved agree, right? And, you know, we've had kids whose parents have passed away, that, you know, the parents definitely made it extremely clear that the home was going to be the kids home when they were no longer with us, right? But without that trust, same thing, we've seen those properties go into probate, you know. And again, you know, even if you've got some money or you're going to settle with the attorney after probate is done, it's not if, I mean, it's not a great time. Anyways, we're going through so much that, you know, a trust could have saved just a lot of blood, sweat, tears that whole process.

Roland Daniels 11:44
It removes a lot of the headaches, absolutely, absolutely,

Heidi Griffith 11:47
and we clearly have seen with reverse mortgages, but we've clearly seen, you know, no plan, no paperwork being left. Unfortunately, mom, dad, grandma pass right, and we've now got a scramble to figure out what we're going to do with this property, because it has a reverse mortgage on it, and you still have to make the payment. You still have to make the payments and with it, and when the reverse mortgage, there's going to be a cut off there. You know, the the bank is, you know, depending on the bank, depending on the reverse mortgage, you've got six to 12 months to pay that off, right?

Roland Daniels 12:20
It's usually six months, and then they'll give you 290 day periods, yeah,

Heidi Griffith 12:25
and they'll extend it. It's just going to depend on that specific mortgage. Agreed.

Roland Daniels 12:28
The good news is, you have options, so let's talk about them. Let's write a trust and a transfer on deed of death. So when it comes to a revocable trust, let's it allows you to put your home into a trust that you have control over. So while you are alive, you have total control. You don't lose any rights, but when you pass, it transfers directly to your heirs, as it states inside of the trust, and that gives you the ability to avoid

Heidi Griffith 12:56
problems, right? And so that eliminates all of that stuff. And the great thing about a revocable trust is that you can, in most instances, go back and make changes, right? So if you had one grandchild and now you've got two grandchildren, maybe you want to add a little something in there for grandchild too, or maybe you have a blended family Exactly, exactly. So that's something that you definitely want to talk to an attorney about to help avoid probate, right, right?

Roland Daniels 13:22
And then there's the transfer on death deed. It's free to set up. Maybe you just have to pay the fee for recording. And it allows you to pass the property from one person to the next. It is recorded at the county, and you keep full control during your lifetime, but it passes to the other person, but that's something else. You need to speak with an attorney or and a financial advisor,

Heidi Griffith 13:46
right, right? But that's that's if you know you don't want to do a full trust, that might be a good option for you.

Roland Daniels 13:51
Yes, maybe that's the only option for you. Maybe you can't afford the ability to set up a

Heidi Griffith 13:56
trust, yeah, because it does make it easy. And one of those simple things that you just go down and record you get it notarized. You go down to the, you know, recorder's office, recorder's office, record it now you're protecting the people that you love. Yes, yeah. I think that's great, better than nothing. Yeah. And if you're working through any of this on your own, or maybe you're helping someone through it, you don't have to figure it out by yourself. You're more than welcome to call us or text us. You can message us, and we'd be happy to help however we can, with referring folks out, kind of guiding you where the information is and making it just a little bit easier on you. You can call or text us. We're at 702-210-2057 again, that number is 702-210-2057 so with all of that, right? We know that we've got to kind of think about things, put them in place. Let's think about something that you can actually do right now. If you're a homeowner, what does that look like? If you're hearing this and it feels like a lot or you're not sure where to start, first thing to do look up your home's title, see how that's presented. Is it just your name listed on it? Is. Something happened to you, would it transfer the way you intended to check whether or flex your current wishes and not what was just true when you bought the house? So if I bought the house and I was Heidi Griffith, a single woman, and I got married after I purchased the home, and I had a spouse, and something happened to me, maybe that could cause a conflict. It could not only a conflict, but again, now we're looking at possibly probate again, right? And that's something that we're trying to avoid. So could I change that? Well, I could put a directive in place, that's for sure, right? You can something else that I urge anyone who has any real property to do is talk to an estate planning attorney, right? Because many of them offer low cost or even free consultations, just to kind of give you an idea. To get you started, you don't need to hire someone on a retainer just to ask basic questions. They can walk you through whether a trust or a transfer on death deed fits whatever your situation is, and they'll help explain how to make sure your title is in good shape, right?

Roland Daniels 15:59
And we do have a few attorneys that we can recommend to you, and then you can reach out, maybe have a conversation with those attorneys and make a decision from

Heidi Griffith 16:07
there, yeah. And there's also some low cost or no cost options, right? So

Roland Daniels 16:11
we refer people to Nevada legal services. They provide legal help to help those who qualify. They can assist with wills, powers of attorney and general estate questions. You can also give them a call, and we'll provide that number, which is 702-386-0404, then we have the State Bar of Nevada's lawyer referral program. They offer a 30 minute consult with an estate planning attorney for a small fee. You can visit NV, B, A r.org once again, that is n v b, a r.org to learn more, if you would like us to send you a short list of reputable local attorneys, feel free to reach out. We're happy to connect you with someone trusted. Talk to your family. Don't assume they know what you want and where things are be specific. Who should they call? Where are those documents kept and what decisions have already been made? A short conversation now can save your loved ones from confusion and conflict later and once you've gotten your own plan in motion, think about the people close to you if you're helping a parent or a grandparent start the conversation gently, especially if they are older and they may not have dealt with this before, you could say something like, Do you know how the title is set up on your home? Or is there a plan for what happens to your home if something were to happen to you? These aren't easy questions or conversations, but they really do matter. They do right? And sometimes just opening the door to that conversation is the first and most important step. We're not trying to scare anyone. We are trying to help people protect what they've built. Do you know how the title is set up? Is there a plan for that home? Yeah,

Heidi Griffith 17:59
let's make this real. Think about this, if you passed away tonight, would your loved ones know exactly what to do? Would they be able to keep at home, or would they be stuck in court trying to figure it out the hard way?

Roland Daniels 18:09
And we don't want that. No, you don't need a ton of money to get this right. Heidi, let's run through some questions that we've heard. Yeah, absolutely. Let's do it. Do? I need a trust and a will. Do

Heidi Griffith 18:21
I need a trust and a will? Well, everybody's situation is different. There may be an opportunity to have both, and that might be your best opportunity, right? Because a trust is going to handle property, you know, real property, like your house. Maybe if you had a piece of property, a piece of land, that's what trust is going to handle, then you could have a will that would handle your other assets, you know, your your jewelry or a piece of art, or things like that. So the will kind of acts as a backup. You could have that kind of stuff in your trust as well. But if you had to pick between the two, and you had real estate, I'd say you definitely want the trust. You definitely want to trust. You definitely want the trust. So what about this? What if I die and the house has a reverse mortgage? I know we talked about it, we did, but what happens?

Roland Daniels 19:07
Well, your heirs will have a set period of time, like we said, usually six to 12 months, and they give you options, whether you want to pay off the balance, or maybe you want to sell the property, or actually purchase the property. So you would have to get a new mortgage. You would have to get a new mortgage to replace that reverse mortgage, right?

Heidi Griffith 19:24
So what happens if, if they're not on title, if there's mom and dad have a reverse mortgage, they're no longer with us, and you don't do anything. What happens,

Roland Daniels 19:33
um, your heirs have a set period, usually between six to 12 months, like you said, Uh huh, to pay off the balances or sell the property. If they are not on title and don't act the home can be foreclosed. Not good. Not good at all. Good. We don't want to see that, right? So, can the state take my home if I don't have a will?

Heidi Griffith 19:52
Can the state take your home? Not, usually, right, but it's still going to go through, like we said throughout the entire show, it's still probably going to go through probe. Eight, and it's not gonna necessarily go to who you thought it was gonna go to, because there's gonna be a succession that the state looks at, right? And if no heirs are available, or found it, could actually end up with the state and then they would sell the property right?

Roland Daniels 20:14
Did you know that Prince had no heirs and they had to go through probate?

Heidi Griffith 20:18
Do I know? I don't know why prince did that? There was a reason he knew. Yes, there was a reason for that. So, okay, so what about so now let's, let's go back and talk about the transfer on death deed, right? Yes. Could there be more than one person on the transfer on death deed?

Roland Daniels 20:35
Yes, there can be multiple benefit shares. Okay, right? But you'll want to be clear about how that's handled, where there's equal shares and survivorship, and please speak with an attorney, because we've hearing or we've heard that, please do not put put children on who are under the age of 18. That is

Heidi Griffith 20:53
correct. So definitely speak with a professional before you just go slapping people's names onto your deed right? So we talked a lot today. We talked about title, we talked about trust planning, but let's talk directly about what happens with your mortgage, right, something that we're familiar with we are because even if the home is set to pass to someone, right, the loan doesn't just disappear. Right? Gets set to pass to someone, does

Roland Daniels 21:17
it exactly? So when a homeowner passes away, the mortgage doesn't vanish. Someone still has to make those payments. But here's the great news, there are federal protections in place. If you are a surviving spouse, a child or someone inheriting it through a trust, you may be able to keep the home and the same mortgage in place without needing to refinance or pay it off immediately. That is correct, and that's because there is something that's called the Garn state germane act. It is a federal law that says that if you inherit a property and intend to live in it, the lender cannot call that loan due. Okay, say that again, if the lender it means that the lender can't call the loan due, meaning that it can't demand full repayment just because the original borrower passed away. The protection applies whether you are a spouse, whether you are a child or another relative, and

Heidi Griffith 22:14
this would be much easier to transition directly from the person who passed who was on the mortgage, right? Right to their surviving beneficiary, whether that's a partner or a child or whatever that looks like, if it doesn't have to go through pro but because it gets you could still keep that mortgage and it have to go through probate, right?

Roland Daniels 22:32
Yep, you just keep making a payment right after month. Okay, okay, continue on. That's great. And even if you're not on the loan originally, another law kicks in to protect you. This one is from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It is called the successor in interest rule, and it states or says that once you notify the servicer and propriet and provide proof that you are legally inherited a home like a death certificate, a trust or a will, the lender has to treat you like the borrower. That means you can get statements, make payments, and even apply for help or loan modifications if needed. You're not shut out, out of the loan process just because your name wasn't originally on

Heidi Griffith 23:16
it. And here's what's really important to understand, though, these protections only work if you continue to make the payments right on time, just like you would do if you if it was your mortgage, because if the loan falls behind, the lender can still start the foreclosure proceedings, because it's just like any other mortgage. So these laws are going to help you keep the home right, especially, you know, if whoever had the mortgage previous had a great interest rate. You know, even if you thought about it, it might be more beneficial to you to keep that mortgage.

Roland Daniels 23:47
Maybe you have one of those two and a half percent or 3% interest rates. Little stars

Heidi Griffith 23:51
in my eyes, those for the good old days, but, but yeah, so it may make sense to keep that mortgage. You just have to make sure that you stay on top of that mortgage, because we don't want it to get foreclosed, right? These laws are going to help you, keep you in the home, but they're not going to erase any responsibility to pay for the property, right?

Roland Daniels 24:08
There's no grace period just because someone passed away. If you inherit a home and you stop making payments, or if you wait too long to notify the lender, the loan can go into default and foreclosure. Those proceedings can begin in as little as 90 to 120 days, depending on the lenders process. Yep,

Heidi Griffith 24:29
yep. So unfortunately, when we lose people bills don't stop mortgage payment. If the mortgage payment is due on Wednesday, it still has to be paid on Wednesday, right? It just keeps coming. And remember, if there's a reverse mortgage, it's even more urgent, because, again, I'll say it, there's typically, you know, a short period that the balance is going to have to be paid off, and that, like Roland said, it's usually six to 12 months closer to the six with some extension periods if they grant them, because we don't want the lender. To take action, they have the ability to take action and sell that property. That

Roland Daniels 25:03
is correct. So the bottom line is, if you're inheriting a home and want to keep it, communicate quickly, submit your paperwork and stay current on that mortgage, that's the best way to protect the home and your family's options. Yeah,

Heidi Griffith 25:17
and we bring it up because, you know, there may be someone today listening, not thinking about leaving a house, you may be the one inheriting it, and it's important to know how it's going to fit into the picture and the conversations that you could have with the loved ones that you're thinking about. Right?

Roland Daniels 25:32
If you have any questions about this, or if you've seen a situation like this in your own family, we are here. You can give us a call or text us, that number is 702-210-2057, that's 702-210-2057 or you can reach out on Facebook at mortgage matters radio. We are here to help you understand your options and point you in the right direction.

Heidi Griffith 25:58
Absolutely. And just a final reminder. If you'd like more information about our Tuesday, June 10, home is possible, down payment assistance online workshop, please feel free. You can reach out and call us or text us the number like Roland just said, 702-210-2057, just an hour, sometimes an hour and a half, if you've got questions, but after the class is done, if you don't want to hang out for the questions. You're more than happy to pop off

Roland Daniels 26:25
before we go. We also want to highlight a great organization doing important work in our community, which is the Silver State Fair Housing Council, or SSF, HC, Heidi and I both serve on their board of trustees. I'm a board members, and she's actually the vice president. We love what they do to help people protect their housing rights. Absolutely.

Heidi Griffith 26:49
I really believe that Silver State Fair Housing is one of those unsung heroes. They are right. They help people every day and guide them in the direction that if they have an issue with housing, whether it be owning or renting, they teach classes, they give out tools. It's one of the most valuable ways that you could actually be involved is by becoming a fair housing tester with Silver State Fair Housing right? I agree. Testers help uncover discrimination in housing, whether it's like I said, rental, sales, lending, it's flexible, it makes a real difference. So if you'd like to be part of protecting fair housing, access to housing Nevada, this is a really powerful way to do it,

Roland Daniels 27:27
and we do need testers. And you can reach out to SSF HC by calling their phone number at 702-749-3288 once again, that's 7027 4932 4932 88 or visit s, s, f, h, c.org, they're always looking for thoughtful, observant people to help out with this mission. Absolutely,

Heidi Griffith 27:52
and you can also reach out to them directly if you feel that there has been a housing violation that is directed, directly impacted, right? I think that wraps up today's episode, doesn't it? It does. It does. So you know, if anything resonated with you on today's show, if you have any questions, you can call us. We'd be happy to again, guide you in the right direction, because we've seen way too many people suffer from just sheer lack of planning we have, yeah, and it's something that you really can start to work on now,

Roland Daniels 28:20
you can right now, and we'll be back next Sunday at 7:30am right here on K, U, N, V, 91.5, Legacy isn't about what you leave. It's about how you prepare people to receive it. Have a fantastic week, and remember stay true to yourself and your mind. Bye. You