Reverse Mortgage Daily will be observing Memorial Day on Monday, May 30, but will return to our normal posting schedule Tuesday, May 31. In the meantime, we’d like to wish all RMD readers a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
Until we meet again, in case you missed it, here’s what happened in reverse mortgage news this week:
Reverse Mortgage Industry Digests FHA’s Latest HECM Changes—Last week the Federal Housing Administration proposed a number of substantial changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, including new rules aimed at further strengthening the HECM program while also reducing risk to the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.
Reverse Mortgage Interest Rate Caps Spell Trouble For Secondary Market—Though the new rules proposed by the FHA last week aimed to benefit HECM borrowers, industry members are saying there is the potential that the changes could adversely impact the secondary market. One particular rule they are concerned about is the proposed cap on lifetime interest rate increases on all HECM adjustable rate mortgages to 5%.
Policy Experts Push Creation of Low-Cost Reverse Mortgage Product—This week the BPC Commission on Retirement Security and Personal Savings released a report about the nation’s booming senior population. To better serve their housing and health care needs, bipartisan policymakers are recommending the creation of a new, lower-cost reverse mortgage product as a part of improving the ability to age in place.
This Reverse Mortgage Lender’s Two-Fold Strategy for Attracting Fresh Talent—Hiring new talent is vital for the success in the reverse mortgage industry. Sharon Falvey, director of sales operations for Open Mortgage in Austin, Texas shares her company’s strategy to find the freshest talent to serve the industry.
Retirees’ Aging in Place Desires Don’t Include Reverse Mortgages—Survey results released this week by The American College found that though the majority of people want to stay in their homes for as long as possible, a very small percentage of them know basic reverse mortgage knowledge.
Written by Alana Stramowski
