Lifestyle

Bill, 75, Thought His Late Mother’s House Was Paid Off. Then the Government Sued Over a Reverse Mortgage He Never Knew About: “I Was in Shock”

By Mike Harper · November 12, 2026

Bill Tavernier has lived in his Deltona, Florida, home for nearly 20 years. He moved in to look after his mother, Theresa.

“My mom asked me to come. My dad had died, and she felt safer with someone else,” he told WFTV Channel 9 Action 9 consumer investigator Jeff Deal.

According to the station, his mother had paid off the home years earlier. In 2007 she signed a quitclaim deed adding him to the ownership. She died in 2013, and Bill stayed on with his dog, Gunner, believing the house was his.

What he did not know, WFTV reported, was that in 2001 his mother had taken out a reverse mortgage on the house for a little over 70,000 dollars.

“She was a wonderful woman, wonderful person, but that generation… you didn’t discuss any of that with your kids,” he said.

Last summer, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sued to foreclose on that loan. With principal, interest and other fees, the station reported, the government claims he owes nearly 190,000 dollars.

“I was in shock for a couple of weeks,” Bill said.

You can watch his story in WFTV’s report on YouTube.

Bill and Gunner live mostly on his Social Security checks, according to WFTV, and fighting the lawsuit on his own did not work. When the station aired his story in February, the home was set to go to auction the following month.

“Am I going to survive this? I don’t know. My dog and I are going to be homeless. That’s what I’m staring at,” he said.

Orlando real estate attorney Barry Miller told WFTV he suspects HUD did not realize Theresa had died until Bill put the house on the market last year. Miller said the government is entitled to call in the loan but is going after the property, not Bill. “They’re not going to try to get a deficiency judgment or any money from him, because, of course, he’s not the borrower,” he said.

In March, Bill, then 75, told The Independent that he had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy to try to stay in the house. HUD does not comment on active litigation, the paper reported. LightWave Reports could not find a public update on the case since then.

Miller’s main advice is simple. “Anytime you transfer property from one person to another, even if it’s a family member, do a title search. A title search costs a couple of hundred dollars. It’s worthwhile to see what’s there,” he told the station. He also said anyone who takes out a reverse mortgage should tell their family.

The most common reverse mortgage is the federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, or HECM. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the loan becomes due after the last borrower dies, unless there is a co-borrower or an eligible spouse. Heirs who get a due and payable notice have 30 days to buy, sell or turn the home over to the lender, and that may be extended up to six months to sell or arrange their own loan.

If the home is worth less than what is owed, the CFPB says heirs can pay off the loan by selling the home for at least 95 percent of its appraised value, and mortgage insurance covers the rest.

If a parent’s house is coming to you, ask directly whether there is a reverse mortgage or other loan on it, and pay for a title search at any family transfer. If a notice arrives, contact a HUD-approved housing counseling agency or an attorney before the deadlines pass.

This article is for general information and is not financial or legal advice. Details of the loan and the lawsuit are as reported by WFTV and The Independent. This article was produced with the assistance of AI and fact-checked against the sources cited by LightWave Reports.