In case you missed it, here’s what happened in reverse mortgage news this week:
Lessons Learned: Cracking the Reverse Mortgage for Purchase Code—While many lenders have identified the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for Purchase product as an area of growth potential for reverse mortgages, few have reported ongoing success with the product. For those seeing tangible success, establishing relationships with real estate professional has been key.
Consumer Reports: Don’t Get Suckered into Reverse Mortgages—A recent article from Consumer Reports in the past week said that while reverse mortgage advertisements tout the product as a “risk-free” way to fill financial gaps in retirement, seniors should not be “suckered” into buying these loans.
Report Digs Deeper Into CFPB Reverse Mortgage Complaints—Independent research into complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) shed some new light into reverse mortgage gripes that have been filed at the agency over its four-year existence.
Pricing Freedom Creates Range of Reverse Mortgage Counseling Fees—Recent guidance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development reminded HECM counselors that there is neither a minimum nor maximum fee to charge for counseling services. As a result, the fees for reverse mortgage counseling vary from state to state, as well as agency to agency.
State Law Updates Reverse Mortgage Rules, Gives Lenders More Flexibility—A recent amendment to Rhode Island’s reverse mortgage statute will give lenders operating in the state more flexibility in performing certain Financial Assessment actions before the loan applicant completes mandatory counseling.
Written by Jason Oliva
