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Dear Dr. Don,
I recently found a 30-year Ginnie Mae bond my father purchased in October 1986 for $25,000 at 8.5 percent
interest. I have never seen a check for any interest.
My father passed away in 2001 and my mother passed away March 3, 2008. Please give me any
information you can about this bond. I also need to know how I can transfer the name from my father and mother
to my brother and me once it is probated.
-- Bella Bondholder
Dear Bella,
Odds are that this bond paid off while your father
was still alive. GNMA, or Ginnie Mae, is a government
agency that issues conventional debentures
and mortgage-backed securities -- so-named because
they are backed by pools of mortgages. A conventional
debenture would have a stated maturity date on
the bond.
The mortgage-backed debt returned principal and interest as homeowners made their monthly
mortgage payments. Refinancing, sales or additional principal payments shortened the life of the mortgage-backed
loans. The typical mortgage in the '80s had an average life of no more than seven to 12 years and it's unlikely
that a mortgage-backed pool from 1986 would still be outstanding.
A bond issue has a Committee on
Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number, or CUSIP.
The number identifies the bond issue. It is a
nine-digit code permanently assigned to the issue
and typically printed on the face of the physical
security. Know the CUSIP and you can track the
security. Your physical security should have its
CUSIP number listed on it.
Contact GNMA's investor
relations department to learn more about the security in your possession. If the issue is still outstanding, that
department will be able to help you with changing the registration on the bond.
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