Reverse mortgages were front and center for the Department of Housing and Urban Development this past week, with HUD representatives speaking before a National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association audience in New York City last week, and a HUD publication focusing much of its attention to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage this week. News about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also swirled through news out of Washington as House Republicans honed in on a plan to overhaul the often controversial agency.
In case you missed them, here’s a recap of the five most popular stories on RMD this week:
PBS Program Takes Deep Dive into Reverse Mortgages—A nationally syndicated PBS personal finance program dedicated a solid chunk of a recent episode to the new academic thinking around reverse mortgages and retirement. Jamie Hopkins, an associate professor of taxation at the American College of Financial Services in Bryn Mawr, Pa. weighed in on PBS’s “WealthTrack.”
HUD Discusses the State of the Reverse Mortgage in 2017—Recent regulatory changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage application process have had a visible impact on the complexion of the program, according to a regular update from Department of Housing and Urban Development representatives.
H4P Originators Find Success Working the Builder Angle—For most originators working with the HECM for Purchase (H4P) product, forming partnerships with Realtors has been the key to success. But some reverse professionals have made a name for themselves by targeting the builder community, working with developers to sell new homes designed specifically for the senior population.
Startup Could Introduce Reverse Mortgage Alternative—With equity-share products making a comeback, the cofounder of a home equity-extracting startup told RMD that his company could introduce a product that would compete with the traditional reverse mortgage.
HUD Publication Delves into Reverse Mortgage Details, Benefits—The most recent edition of Department and Housing and Urban Development publication Cityscape takes a detailed look into reverse mortgages via six in-depth articles.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
