For anyone actively working in the mortgage industry, it’s no secret that reverse mortgages have taken a brutal hit in the last two years. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued major program changes at the end of 2017 that effectively limited the amount of proceeds and the number of people who could qualify for the loan. The result had lenders across the space enduring sizable volume drops and subsequent gashes to their bottom lines.

There were many causes of the housing crisis, but near the top of the list (if not at the top) was the rise of subprime lending and its subsequent impact on the secondary mortgage market.