Tag Archives: Reverse Mortgage

The FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund currently covers both forward and reverse mortgages. But is that really the best way to asses risk for the programs?

A new report breaks down home equity by race and age, finding that Black homeowners 65 years and older are more likely to take out reverse mortgages than any other demo.

DataQuick, a real estate information solutions firm headquartered in San Diego, announced it has expanded its Standard Recorder layout to provide a more comprehensive view of properties and transactions. The expanded layout allows for the creation of a custom bundle devoted to key loan transaction intelligence, including data on 12 million loan modifications, loan terms on four million mortgages, interest rates on 600,000 loans, and details on 525,000 reverse mortgages.

The Senate Banking Committee reached a milestone in its efforts to stabilize the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) with the release of a discussion draft of a new bill Monday. The Federal Housing Administration Solvency Act of 2013, authored by Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Johnson and Ranking Member Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), has provisions to strengthen underwriting, make lenders more accountable, and strengthen the FHA’s reverse mortgage program.

Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) and reverse mortgages, tools to which many seniors turn to help manage expenses in their later years, can be challenging products to navigate, according to testimonies delivered during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday morning. While the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) considers changes to the HECM program, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs held a hearing to determine the best path forward for the program.

While reverse mortgages can be a boon to seniors as they head into retirement, a new report from the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) says recent trends show trouble in the market that may cost taxpayers billions of dollars. According to a 2012 MetLife survey, two-thirds of borrowers are now using reverse mortgages to pay down debt. Pamela Villarreal, a senior fellow at NCPA, expects the ""troubling trend will increase as more baby boomers enter retirement with mortgage debt than previous generations.""

Walter Investment Management Corp. announced Tuesday that its wholly owned subsidiary, Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. (RMS), has acquired a reverse mortgage servicing portfolio containing more than 76,000 loans from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. The portfolio has an unpaid principal balance of about $12.2 billion and is expected to transfer to RMS during the third quarter of 2013, Walter Investment said in a release. The transaction will double the size of Walter Investment's serviced book, according to CEO and chairman Mark J. O'Brien.

Two federal agencies partnered up to let certain companies know their mortgage advertising tactics may be unlawful. On Monday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced letters were issued over potentially misleading advertisements that target veterans and older Americans. The CFPB sent about a dozen warning letters to mortgage lenders and brokers, and the FTC sent 20 letters to real estate agents, home builders, and lead generators.

Following a CFPB report that linked foreclosures to confusion over reverse mortgages, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) is seeking to help seniors make responsible decisions about their mortgages. NRMLA announced that it has developed a series of tools designed to help seniors better understand the facts about reverse mortgages before they choose to use them. A common misconception about reverse mortgages, the CFPB revealed, is that they are a government benefit rather than a financial product.

A reverse mortgage is a type of home loan that lets older homeowners access the equity they have built up on their homes and defer loan payment until they sell the home, move out, or pass away. The original purpose of reverse mortgages was to allow these homeowners to convert home equity into an income stream or line or credit to use in retirement. Reverse mortgages require no monthly mortgage payments, but borrowers must still pay property taxes and homeowner's insurance. The CFPB released a report that showed nearly 10 percent of reverse mortgage borrowers are at risk of foreclosure because they failed to pay those costs.