Reverse mortgage schemes are on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “radar screen,” according to a report by online publication Financial Advisor. 

The CFPB has in the past studied reverse mortgages, and has been actively involved in regulatory enforcement across the mortgage market, but has yet to issue an enforcement action specific to reverse mortgages.

But the issue is still high on that radar screen, Financial Advisor reports, based on comments made at a recent American Bar Association conference by Nora Dowd Eisenhower, who serves as assistant director of the CFPB’s Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans. 

“It’s a very significant issue for us,” Eisenhower, said during the conference. 

The report points to specific concerns of the CFPB including the falling age of the average borrower and associated risks; reverse mortgage advertising that include terms like “free money;” and removal of one spouse from the home’s title. (Editor’s note: Non-borrowing spouse protections were implemented by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in August to prevent non-borrowing spouses from losing their homes in the event of a borrower’s passing away.)

View the Financial Advisor article.

Written by Elizabeth Ecker