Reverse Mortgage articles, updated news, and happenings, all in one place. We hope you are making Reverse Mortgages apart of your product mix.

Appropriations Bill Set to Change FHA Reverse Mortgage Program
Sep 10, 2009 04:53 pm | admin

As politicians head back to Washington to vote on health care and a range of other issues, the reverse mortgage industry waits to see what the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) will look like starting in FY 2010. The House passed its appropriation bill in August and requires that HUD operate the HECM program at a net...

Should Retirees Carry a Mortgage Into Retirement?
Sep 10, 2009 01:35 pm | admin

Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research recently published a brief which asked “Should You Carry a Mortgage into Retirement?” It states that although it remains the goal of many households to repay their mortgage by retirement, an increasing proportion are entering retirement with a mortgage. This Issue in Brief considers whether households should use retirement...

Nevada Task Force Warns of Fraudulent Reverse Mortgage Counseling
Sep 09, 2009 02:31 pm | admin

Channel 8 in Las Vegas is reporting that scammers are targeting seniors through reverse mortgages using a tactic called fraud counseling. "A senior may not know they are eligible for $100,000 in equity for their home — they may think it’s only $60,000,” said Elisabeth Daniels with Nevada’s Fight Fraud Task Force. “If they get...

WSJ: Government Officials Concerned About FHA’s Loan Losses
Sep 09, 2009 12:41 pm | admin

With all the talk about the Federal Housing Administration’s request for a $798 million subsidy for the HECM program, government officials are starting to voice their concern over FHA as a whole as many feel its reserves could fall below the level demanded by Congress. Edward Pinto, a mortgage-industry consultant and former chief credit...

HUD Seeks to Find Balance in Reverse Mortgage Counseling Sessions
Sep 08, 2009 03:13 pm | Neil

As HUD labors over changes to its counseling requirements for reverse mortgage recipients, questions persist about what expanded role the government – and by decree, individual private lenders – will play in attempting to ensure, or perhaps, even guarantee, that seniors fully understand all aspects and ramifications of the deal they are making. “Strengthening objectivity...

Baby Boomers Spending Down Sharply
Sep 08, 2009 08:28 am | admin

Results from a new Gallup poll show that Baby boomers’ self-reported average daily spending of $64 is down sharply from an average of $98 in 2008. However, baby boomers (the largest generational group of Americans) are not alone in reducing spending, all generations showing declines from last year. According to Gallup’s estimates, 36% of...

Reverse Mortgages Booming in New York
Sep 04, 2009 03:14 pm | admin

Reverse Market Insight published its industry trends for July 2009 and shows that reverse mortgage volume in New York is up 47.1% for the year. Other states like Florida haven’t been nearly as lucky, with volume down 29% compared to last year. According to RM Insight, Florida looks a little over saturated at the moment with...

CNN Airs Reverse Mortgage Segment
Sep 04, 2009 12:31 pm | admin

Over the weekend CNN’s Betty Nguyen talked with Clyde Anderson, who is part of the CNN Money staff about reverse mortgages. The segment is very positive but the information given wasn’t necessarily the best. During the segment, Nguyen says that, “It’s almost like its interest free”, and Anderson says “exactly”. Definitely, not the case. I’ve got one...

NRMLA Questions of Consumer Reports Reverse Mortgage Investigation
Sep 03, 2009 02:18 pm | marty

When researching a product, be it a flat-screen television or a car, many of us often turn to Consumer Reports for an evaluation of what is available. But after reading their reporting on reverse mortgages in the September 2009 issue (“Reversals of fortune: The next financial fiasco? Can it be reverse mortgages”), one has to...

HUD Establishes Reverse Mortgage Counseling Roster and Standards
Sep 03, 2009 10:16 am | admin

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a final rule which establishes testing standards to qualify HECM counselors in order to provide reverse mortgage counseling to prospective borrowers. The rule also establishes a new HECM Counseling Roster of eligible counselors who must meet the following eligibility requirements: Have passed the National HECM Counseling...

Top Reverse Mortgage Lenders Through August 2009
Sep 02, 2009 12:19 pm | admin

Overall reverse mortgage industry volume fell 9% from July, coming in at 8,933 units for the month, and bringing the YTD volume to 77,657 says Reverse Market Insight. Below is a list of the top HECM lenders through August 2009 and be sure to take a look at the commentary and link below which goes...

Ginnie Mae Reverse Mortgage Volume Continues to Soar
Sep 01, 2009 10:42 am | admin

The Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) announced that it issued more than $853 million of its HECM mortgage-backed securities (HMBS) in July, bringing the YTD total issuance to over $2 billion. The numbers from July are the third consecutive record setting month for GNMA and shows that lenders are becoming more comfortable using GNMA as...

$798 Million Subsidy: Time to Change the FHA Insured Reverse Mortgage Program?
Aug 27, 2009 02:54 pm | admin

As the reverse mortgage industry faces a $798 million subsidy request, there is plenty of discussion from industry leaders and politicians about how to change the program to ensure its success and viability. The knee jerk reaction from most is to cut the principal limit to ensure that no subsidy is needed for the government...

Mortgage Frauds Latest Twist
Aug 27, 2009 01:59 pm | admin

A new article from the Wall Street Journal details how a retired auto mechanic used the money he received from a reverse mortgage to pay off his existing $70,000 mortgage and "piddled away" the remaining $24,000 on things like restaurant meals for his four girlfriends, he says. Unfortunately, the owner of the Orlando, Fla., title...

Stuck In Reverse? HousingWire’s Take on Reverse Mortgages
Aug 27, 2009 01:31 pm | admin

These days it’s pretty rare to come across a balanced article on reverse mortgages but Housing Wire’s Kelly Curan does a great job describing the state of the industry and the challenges it faces. Instead of re-hashing the story here, HousingWire was happy to provide RMD readers with access to the article which is only available...

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Tom Domin is the author of "101 Ways to Originate Mortgages" and publisher of "Tom's Mortgage Tips" a twice monthly Mortgage Newsletter geared for Mortgage Professionals. Put your mortgage career on the fast track and sign-up for FREE at http://www.MortgageMarketingToolKit.com/

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