It’s the end of a busy week in the reverse mortgage world, one that saw  the two-day National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association’s eastern regional conference in New York City and a flurry of popular-media stories about Home Equity Conversion Mortgages.

RMD’s coverage of NRMLA topped the list of most-read stories this week, with readers turning to a pair of posts about the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s plans for the implementation of the Final Rule later this year.

In case you missed them, here’s a recap of the five most popular stories on RMD this week:

Trump’s HUD Unlikely to Stop Final Rule for Reverse Mortgages — It was an offhand comment, but it made significant waves in the industry: NRMLA president and CEO Peter Bell kicked off his organization’s regional conference on Monday by claiming that he was “comfortable on the direction” of the coming Final Rule changes, adding that he didn’t “see any reason why [HUD] would interfere with the publication” of the new regulations in September. Bell’s reassurances came at the beginning of lengthy panel discussion on the new rules, featuring stakeholders from HUD and the industry.

HUD Lays Out Timeline for Reverse Mortgage Final Rule — Later on Monday, HUD officials gave a blow-by-blow breakdown of how the final rule will be rolled out, from “self-implementing” regulations that take effect immediately on September 19, to longer-term initiatives that still require clarification in the HUD Single Family Housing Policy Handbook or anticipated mortgagee letters.

Reverse Mortgages Aren’t For Everyone, But Could They Be? — It’s a common refrain among even the most ardent reverse mortgage supporters: They’re great products, but they aren’t for everyone. RMD asked some of its sources in the HECM world for suggestions on how the program could be expanded to include a wider pool of borrowers, and got a surprisingly wide range of answers.

Reverse Mortgage Endorsements Spiked in March, But There’s a Catch — New data from Reverse Market Insight showed a strong March for HECM endorsements, but without a corresponding spike in Federal Housing Administration applications, the research firm warns that we could simply be seeing the release of a springtime endorsement bottleneck.

CBS: Reverse Mortgages Don’t Get No Respect — Channeling the late, great Rodney Dangerfield, CBS MoneyWatch called out the HECM’s lack of respect in the financial-planning world — and for the second time in a week, the network and its financial news website provided positive coverage of reverse mortgages.

Reverse mortgages around the web

HousingWire Breaks Down HECM Requirements — It probably won’t tell you anything you don’t already know, but the trade publication provides a quick and easy breakdown of the hurdles that prospective borrowers must clear before receiving a reverse mortgage. The HousingWire story also features a critical quote from a director at AARP’s Public Policy Institute, who says the required hourlong counseling sessions aren’t long enough, and recommends that seniors do extensive research on their own before taking the plunge.

How Reverse Mortgages Can Fill the Retirement Income Gap — PlanAdviser.com gives a handy recap of the latest thinking on reverse mortgages as bigger-picture retirement planning tools, quoting professor and HECM advocate Wade Pfau as well as lenders and wealth advisors.

Written by Alex Spanko