AARP Study Reveals Nearly 700,000 Foreclosures, Delinquencies Involve Homeowners...

AARP Study Reveals Nearly 700,000 Foreclosures, Delinquencies Involve
Homeowners Aged 50 and Over

Older holders of subprime first mortgages are 17 times more likely to be in
foreclosure than are older holders of prime loans.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A first-of-its-kind study by
AARP debunks the myth that older homeowners are not vulnerable to the home
mortgage crisis.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070209/NYF043LOGO )

New research by the AARP Public Policy Institute (PPI) to be released tomorrow
shows that for the six month period ending in December, 2007, 684,000 older
Americans (aged 50 and over) were either in foreclosure or were delinquent in
mortgage payments. That's more than a quarter of all foreclosures or
delinquencies (28.1 percent). Delinquency normally refers to mortgage payments
at least 30 days in arrears.

The study also showed that older African Americans and Hispanics were hit
harder than whites.

These dramatic findings will be discussed tomorrow by Susan Reinhard, Director
of AARP's Public Policy Institute, at an AARP Solutions Forum in Washington,
D.C., "Foreclosure Crisis and Older Americans." The forum will be held from
9:30 am until 1:30 pm at the Reserve Officers Association, One Constitution
Avenue, on Capitol Hill in Washington.

"The public perception is that older Americans are financially secure in their
homes," said Reinhard. "But the reality is that while many are in fact
secure, hundreds of thousands of others are not and face unsettling
uncertainty over their futures as homeowners.

"Older Americans depend on their homes both for shelter and as a retirement
asset," Reinhard added. "Losing a home jeopardizes long-term financial
security, for older Americans it also leaves them with limited time to
recover."

Other key highlights of the study:

-- African-Americans and Hispanics are disproportionately affected in
comparison with whites in their age group. Among mortgage holders
aged
50 and over, African American and Hispanic borrowers both have
foreclosure rates of 0.51 percent, compared to a rate of 0.19 percent
for Caucasians.

-- Older Americans are severely impacted by holding subprime loans.
Older
holders of subprime first mortgages are 17 times more likely to be in
foreclosure than are older holders of prime loans.

-- While older Americans are clearly vulnerable to the continuing
mortgage
crisis, the foreclosure rate at the end of last year for people aged
50
and over was 0.24 percent, compared with a total all-age U.S. average
of
0.39 percent.

Numerous news reports have indicated that the home mortgage crisis has
deepened this year, since the six-month period studied by AARP. That almost
certainly means that older homeowners have been even more impacted by the
delinquency-foreclosure cycle in recent months.

The report by PPI is based on a random sample totaling 2.5 million mortgage
holders, including about one million who are 50 years old or older. The sample
is from the database of Experian, a major U.S. credit bureau.

Tomorrow's forum will focus on the PPI study and look at a variety of policy
options to address the crisis. Speakers include Representative Barney Frank
(D-MA), chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services; David Kittle,
Chairman Elect of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and Martin J. Gruenberg,
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation.

In the future, using the same data, AARP plans to examine the reasons why
older Americans go into delinquency or foreclosure. Differences among states
and metropolitan areas also will be pursued.

For the full report, please contact AARP Media Relations at 202-434-2560.

About AARP
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50+
have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and
affordable to them and society as a whole. AARP does not endorse candidates
for public office or make contributions to either political campaigns or
candidates. We produce AARP The Magazine, the definitive voice for 50+
Americans and the world's largest-circulation magazine with over 33 million
readers; AARP Bulletin, the go-to news source for AARP's 40 million members
and Americans 50+; AARP Segunda Juventud, the only bilingual U.S. publication
dedicated exclusively to the 50+ Hispanic community; and our website,
AARP.org. AARP Foundation is an affiliated charity that provides security,
protection, and empowerment to older persons in need with support from
thousands of volunteers, donors, and sponsors. We have staffed offices in all
50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

SOURCE AARP

Dave Nathan of AARP, +1-202-434-2560, dnathan@aarp.org