Industry-leading reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group (AAG) is making a new informational resource with product information, entitled “Reverse Mortgage for Journalists,” available to journalists.
The resource offers information about the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. It is available online and offers journalists direct information from one of its key providers, according to AAG.
“We are hopeful that this new resource will assist journalists to accurately frame the public discussion around reverse mortgages and encourage a portrayal based on facts,” an AAG spokesperson told RMD.
The information includes details about reverse mortgages and how they work, including the different variations, the potential advantages and use cases based on research and surveys conducted by AAG, and the minimum HECM borrower eligibility requirements. It also outlines the steps a customer must take before entering into a loan, such as counseling and financial assessment, as well as the customer safeguards that have been implemented into the HECM program.
Education is a key priority for reverse mortgage companies in order to combat the public relations hurdles, like those stemming from the 2008 financial crisis. Reverse mortgage companies have sought out informational partnerships with other organizations, such as FOA’s partnership with Morningstar to offer reverse mortgage information to financial planners.
AAG is a key player in the reverse mortgage space because of its education and advertising investments — in addition to its market dominance. Kristen Sieffert, president of Finance of America Reverse (FAR), described AAG’s marketing efforts as a main factor in FOA acquiring the AAG business.
“AAG’s marketing apparatus, including the advertising featuring Tom Selleck, is a critical piece of the acquisition, and continued investment in broad audience exposure is a key part of the model for this channel,” Sieffert said in December.
