Reverse Focus Weekly Podcast Episode #360
In this week’s Reverse Focus podcast, Shannon Hicks chats about the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) decision to pull the plug on the recent Mortgage Optional Election. By doing so, HUD rescinded a previous Mortgagee Letter that would have given reverse mortgage lenders the option to delay foreclosure on non-borrowing spouses via assigning said loans to HUD.
Also discussed, the leading advertiser of reverse mortgages, American Advisors Group (AAG), recently rolled out a new TV ad campaign, spotlighting reverse mortgages in a different light. In the new TV spots, which will continue to feature the company’s national spokesman Fred Thompson, AAG highlights the role reverse mortgages can play in retirement planning, while also including a newly developed information pack for seniors.
In the wake of the Financial Assessment, one lender is shifting its approach to reverse mortgage originations by marketing not “The New Reverse Mortgage,” but by changing the loan’s name altogether. A Chicago-based lender is now marketing the reverse mortgage product under the name “The Life Mortgage for Seniors.”
For the Reverse Focus podcast’s last story, Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements are actually bucking the trend when it comes to HECM endorsement volume. While endorsements have fallen from last year’s comparable period, HECM-to-HECM refinances have climbed, according to the latest from Reverse Market Insight.
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Talking Points:
- HUD pulls plug on recent non-borrowing spouse rule
- AAG launches new TV ads with focus on retirement planning
- Lender launches rebrand of reverse mortgages
- HECM refinances buck endorsement volume trend
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Editor’s Note: These posts are sponsored by Reverse Focus.
Written by Jason Oliva
