Former Ginnie Mae Chief Executive Officer wrote an article in response to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s decision to track reverse mortgage fraud.
Murin writes that:
Although I applaud FinCEN, the HUD Inspector General and all other law enforcement agencies who try and protect us from predatory practices, I am afraid statements such as these are not qualified, yet have some how still become the norm rather that the exception.
Former FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery commented by saying, “such statements that go without a challenge are downright destructive to the reverse mortgage industry.”
Murin writes that “qualifying these statements is not the sole responsibility of MBA and or NRMLA.” In addition he says:
I can think of others who claim to have the best interest of our seniors at heart who should take up a position to support law enforcement’s effort to protect seniors but who should also profess the benefits of the reverse mortgage program and the potential positive impact on our seniors.
Then he asks, where is AARP?
The industry would certainly benefit from AARP playing a bigger role in educating the public about reverse mortgages but its not clear if that will happen. AARP did voice its concern regarding the reduction in principal limits and perhaps its playing a more important role behind the scenes.
There was plenty of speculation that AARP would be forming some type of partnership with a reverse mortgage lender about a year ago and our sources it was close to a done deal. Everything seemed to be falling into place as NeighborWorks announced it would be taking over the Reverse Mortgage Education Project from AARP so it could “focus its efforts on consumer education”
With AARP no longer providing reverse mortgage counseling, many thought we would see some sort of reverse mortgage partnership announced but it hasn’t happened. Over the last year, talks of any sort of partnership have died down and we’re still waiting to see AARP “focus its efforts on consumer education”.
Reverse Mortgages Get Special Attention from Federal Investigators
