With the potential of new reverse mortgage regulations coming from financial reform legislation, Reverse Giving announced it’s shutting down before it has formally launched.

We covered the company and its goals earlier this month, which hoped to provide a safe way for seniors to give to churches through the proceeds of a reverse mortgage.

“Regardless of how you feel about the idea of reverse giving, it is my feeling that we would have been used as a scapegoat to set and enforce new tighter regulations on the use of reverse mortgages,” Lyn R. Link, CSA, Founder and President of Reverse Giving said. “This could have included restrictions on how seniors may use their reverse mortgage funds, including giving to their church.”

Adding, “Given the mood in Congress and the bias in the media, Reverse Giving could have been used to bring negative publicity on reverse mortgages. I also feel that it might have put Reverse Giving’s sponsors at undue risk as the government flexes their new sweeping powers. The last thing I would ever want to do is cause any harm to the reverse mortgage industry, which I love and have been dedicated to for the past 20 years,” Link said.