In case you missed it… here’s what happened in reverse mortgage news this week. 

NRMLA held its West Coast regional conference. Outpacing last year’s attendance, the NRMLA conference in Irvine, California drew 260 professionals from across the nation to talk reverse mortgage topics including working with financial planners, private equity investments, the CFPB and more. 

During the conference … NRMLA proposed a borrower assessment financial assessment to HUD. The assessment would identify certain “high risk” borrowers who would have to meet certain criteria or undergo additional requirements before getting a reverse mortgage. 

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In yet another step toward approval in the state, the reverse mortgage for purchase loan received a vote in favor Thursday by Texas’s state House of Representatives. 

Reverse mortgage advocates as well as other vested groups have long been working with the state legislature toward amending the constitution to allow for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage for purchase. The legislation, Senate Joint Resolution 18 would approve the HECM Purchase under the Federal Housing Administration’s reverse mortgage program. It received a vote of 139-1 in the House and will now go to a vote by the state’s voters on November 5. 

In March, the Senate approved the legislation by a unanimous vote of 31-0. 

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Members of Congress scrutinized the Federal Housing Administration’s reverse mortgage program Thursday with at least two congressmen expressing support for authority sought by the agency to make calculated program changes to shore up its insurance fund.

The program has come under heightened attention from Congress following an actuarial report in late 2012 which indicated the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program resulted in $2.8 billion in negative net worth for the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Subsequently, the Obama Administration’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2014 indicated projected program losses that could lead FHA to draw on a near billion-dollar taxpayer bailout for the first time in its history.

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More than three years into the nation’s economic recovery, American household budgets are still under stress, according to the latest findings of the CredAbility Consumer Distress Index.

In the first quarter of 2013, U.S. households scored 70.7 on the Index’s 100-point scale, down 1.1 point from the previous quarter. A score below 70 indicates a state of financial distress, according to CredAbility’s Index. 

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U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) is the latest congressman to lash out against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) large-scale data collecting efforts. 

In recent months, the CFPB has been the subject of growing Congressional criticism for its research into consumers’ finances, with some even calling it “downright creepy.”

As the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, Senator Crapo is stressing the importance of “watching the watchdog,” as he put it in a op-ed Monday.

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A recent post on the Zillow Blog lists ten things for consumers to know about reverse mortgages, written by a reverse mortgage director at a Kansas City, Mo.-based bank. 

“[Reverse mortgages] are not a wildly inventive financial instrument,” says the blog post, ”but rather a loan product designed specifically for older adults.” 

The list ranges from simple facts—that borrowers retain the title to their homes and can choose how the proceeds are distributed—to address specialized details about how proceeds are normally tax-free and what happens if homes appreciate or depreciate in value.

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Reverse mortgage lenders nationwide continue their search for fresh job talents to fill a variety of positions.

Quicken Loans, Security 1 Lending along with many other lenders are now hiring personnel to bolster their reverse mortgage divisions as the second quarter of 2013 rolls underway. 

From underwriters and processors, to loan officers and closers, the job opportunities for reverse professionals continue to represent a present demand for skilled industry expertise.

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Reverse mortgage originators have long sought relationships with financial planners who can help as a referral source for working with potential borrowers.

Yet navigating the financial planning market can come with its share of quirks and inconsistencies, meaning originators are best served in doing some research into financial planners and their business before working to form these partnerships.

First, financial planners come with a lot of different “names.”

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