In case you missed it, here’s what happened in reverse mortgage news this week.
A financial planning study found the traditional approach to reverse mortgages was way off. Two researchers proved through analysis published in February that a reverse mortgage credit line can lead to “substantially greater cash flow survival probabilities” for people who are planning for retirement. The traditional reverse mortgage conventional wisdom, they found, needs to be reversed.
FHA announced forward premium raises to protect its insurance fund. The Federal Housing Administration will implement mortgage insurance premium increases to help bolster the agency’s capital reserves, acting commissioner Carol Galante said Monday. The upfront mortgage insurance premium will be increased from 1% to 1.75% for forward FHA loans.
Six reverse mortgage fraud convicts were sentenced to a collective 30 years in prison. Six Georgia conspirators were sentenced this week on multiple charges of fraud, for a complex mortgage scheme that defrauded seniors taking out reverse mortgage for purchase loans as well as traditional FHA-insured reverse mortgages.
FINRA and NCOA launched a breakthrough reverse mortgage consumer website. The National Council on Aging has launched a new consumer web site focused on using home equity in retirement, funded by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Check out the site at Home Equity Advisor.org.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
