Except insurers’ housing reverse mortgage insurance, avoid all other “housing-for-pension” pitches; never mortgage the home to buy wealth products

The only legitimate housing-for-pension arrangement is insurers’ housing reverse mortgage insurance (住房反向抵押养老保险), and it is still a pilot. The “housing-for-pension” that scammers describe is unrelated to it: they trick the elder into mortgaging the house, then using the borrowed money to buy the wealth products they recommend. Some people did not even know the house had been mortgaged. In the end the house was gone and they still owed the loan.

Cost

No cost. Keep the property deed at home; do not hand it to anyone pitching “housing-for-pension” (以房养老). Show mortgage, guarantee, and loan contracts to your children before signing. Hard when door-to-door promoters are warm and keep coming back—the elder feels rude saying no.

Benefit

The former CBIRC Consumer Protection Bureau (银保监会消保局) separated real from fake. The real product is “housing reverse mortgage insurance for older persons.” Elders with full legal title mortgage the home to the insurer; they keep living in it, using it, and collecting rent. Sale or disposal needs the mortgagee (insurer) to agree. They receive pension payments under the contract until death. The business remains pilot-scale with few participants. Fraudsters’ “housing-for-pension” is “completely unrelated” to the state pilot and is “using national policy as cover to promote illegal fund-raising.” The method is tricking elders into mortgage, then buying recommended products—“often a Ponzi scheme of paying old debts with new money.” The notice quotes consequences: “Some participants did not even know their property was mortgaged; they ultimately lost the house and still owed the loan.” It also gives yield lines: “If a wealth product promises returns above 6%, question it; above 8% is very dangerous; above 10%, prepare to lose all principal; ‘guaranteed high yield’ is financial fraud.” The same notice requires careful contract signing and not signing blank contracts (nationwide, June 2021).

Notes

Grade B because these lines come from regulator risk notices and judgment, not research. The 6%, 8%, and 10% lines are consumer reference points, not statutory thresholds. CBIRC was merged into the National Administration of Financial Regulation (国家金融监督管理总局); the original page may be unavailable—provincial financial regulator reposts are cited. Wealth loss is secondary; after the home is mortgaged the elder may still owe a large loan—loss exceeds principal. General rules on signing and blank contracts: Section 8 entry 17. After fraud: payment stop, Section 8 entry 2.

Sources · 1

1. 中国银保监会消费者权益保护局 (2021). 关于警惕「投资养老」「以房养老」金融诈骗的风险提示（2021 年第三期）. dfjrjgj.hunan.gov.cn/dfjrjgj/yhlj/202106/t202…（湖南省地方金融监督管理局转载）；民政部、中国银保监会 (2021). 关于养老领域非法集资的风险提示（第四种表现形式：以宣称「以房养老」为名非法集资）. mca.gov.cn/n152/n164/c36171/content.html