Joe Biden turns his Delaware home into 'personal ATM', earns $4.2mn from $350K property: Report

United States President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are believed to have treated their various real estate holdings in Delaware as their personal ATM for years by using them for various mortgages and refinancing them for not less than 35 times, according to a report.

The couple, whose reported net worth is $10 million, have allegedly borrowed $6 million against their properties for many years. 

The dealings over their homes in Delaware are likely to have started in the late 1970s just after Joe and Jill got married.

According to a report published in the Daily Mail, the mortgage or credit deals were negotiated by the couple after approximately every 17 months. Such frequent refinancing has left the finance experts puzzled.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense unless they were desperate for cash,” said a finance expert, while speaking to Daily Mail.

The revelations made in the report have further added mystery to the financial past of his family as the president faces scrutiny over financial transactions. 

The current residence of Bidens is a mansion which was purchased in 1996 and has an outstanding $541,000 mortgage after nearly three decades, as per records. 

“Why would anyone view their home as an ATM?” LA realtor Tony Mariotti said while speaking to the Daily Mail.

“Over time, mortgage fees really add up. Paying off a mortgage… is like a forced savings account that bears modest interest,” Mariotti added. 

As per the records, in 1996 the current four-acre spread was purchased by Bidens for $350,000 and they have since leveraged it with 20 different home credit agreements as well as mortgages totalling $4.23 million.

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Bidens’ other major property is a summer home in Rehoboth Beach which was purchased in 2017 for $2.74 million. It was a cash purchase and had no mortgages attached to it.

However, financial records of Bidens show that they have significant debt and have a mortgage on the Wilmington home as well as an equity loan on the same property.

The family’s total liabilities fall between $350,000 and $850,000. Their estimated assets fall between $1 million and $2.6 million.

According to the records, the Bidens have sanctioned 13 home loans and two credit agreements between 1978 and 1994 which totals $1.72 million.

(With inputs from agencies)