In case you missed it…here’s a recap of reverse mortgage news this week:
RMI studied booming regions for reverse mortgages and looked for reasons why. In some areas where reverse mortgage numbers are thriving, the reasons aren’t so clear cut, said the report from Reverse Market Insight. The report addresses some of those areas across the country and aims to get at why some do better than would be expected when it comes to market penetration and adoption rates of HECM loans.
A Texas bill that would drastically change reverse mortgage lending died in the House. The state bill, which would extend the repayment period for HECM loans to a 15-year time frame, did not pass through the House of Representatives, meaning it loses any chance of being passed this year.
POM Escrow announced it is teaming up with counseling agencies to help reverse mortgage borrowers with taxes and insurance payments. Piece of Mind (or “POM”) Escrow Services, a Chicago-based division of National Tax Search, LLC has developed a third party bill pay service to help HECM borrowers manage the payment of taxes and insurance.
Housing starts and builder confidence pointed to a continued decline for housing. April housing starts fell 10.6% from the previous month, posting the greatest decline since October 2009 and National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, showed the rate remained unchanged in May at a level of 16.
A proposed CFPB bill included a commissioner who will oversee reverse mortgages. Introduced by Rep. Spencer Bachus, the bill that would reform the CFPB and included in the bill is an amendment that assigns one commissioner to oversee the bureau’s activities in protecting consumers who are older or are veterans from abusive, unfair and deceptive lending practices.
…and expansion continued for several reverse mortgage companies. White Plains, N.Y.-based Guaranteed Home Mortgage launched a reverse mortgage division, First Century Bank said it plans to aggressively expand by adding 30-plus reverse mortgage originators to its business, and Generation Mortgage announced it has opened a retail branch in Puerto Rico.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
