HUD Director Concerned About Legislators Overzealous Attention To Reverse Mortgage Industry

September 17th, 2008 | by John Yedinak Published in FHA, Gov. Updates, News, Reverse Mortgage | 8 Comments

I came across a great quote from Meg Burns at the recent Mortgage Bankers Association’s Government Loan and Housing Production Conference in Washington, D.C.

“I have grave concerns about the overzealous attention by legislators to the reverse-mortgage sector. Federal regulators are going to pay attention, but they don’t know the product. We have yet another party entering this world who wants to layer on additional consumer protection, but they don’t understand the product well enough-[and yet] we have auditors nipping at our heels.”

Meg Burns – Director, Single Family Program Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development

Thank you Meg Burns… while I may not like how your attorneys interpret housing Bills, we certainly share the same concerns. More on this later…

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Ray

I have meet and spoke with Meg in the past and she is a big backer of the HECM. She has been improving the HECM over the years, and for the better. To bad congress love to get involved but never bothers to find out wants really needs to get done.
Francella

What I, a R.M.Specialist, and real estate financier from commercial properties, to residential to reverse mortgages (the woman on the street) am gravely concerned about is the UNDERzealousness, and foot-dragging of Single Family Program Development, Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This as I watch sick, old people on the edge of losing their homes while FHA dithers about issuing the mortgagee letter required by the FHA Modernization/Housing Rescue bill passed by Congress.

Will Meg or her staff take these people in and provide housing for them personally?

We need help; we need the mortgagee letter with a $417,000 floor and $625,000 for high cost areas – defined by high cost MSA’s -NOW.
http://www.thegreatamericanphilosopher.com The Great American Philosopher

Good day,

Meg Byrns and HUD have their nerve saying our legislators do not understand or know about the Reverse Mortgage product, we all know that. However,it is very apparent HUD cares little about our senior citizen population. HUD does not have a clue how to interpret their own regulations or meanings pertaining to Reverse Mortgages. Look at how many clarifications we are all waiting on from HUD. October 1st is supposed to be the effective date?

Common people, who is being fleeced here? I would like to see the Reverse Mortgage Daily Post take a position and send a letter to HUD and our legislators saying, “Enough is enough” ! Send all of our comments to them and lets try and make a difference and create a voice. Please let me know Daily Post, will you take up the Banner for all of us in the Reverse Mortgage industry???

Thank you,

The Great American Philosopher

http://www.thegreatamericanphilosopher.com

ENDORSED BY: John A. Smaldone
http://www.ReverseWithLinda.com Linda Lewis

I agree with all of the previous comments and concerns. Meg complains that the legislatures don’t understand the product. Why not propose a way to correct that? Why doesn’t HUD or the FHA sponsor educational programs and promote Reverse Mortgages? It would add needed credibility to the program. And maybe then the financial planning community would finally accept and recommend them too.
Chrys Barnes

I agree. We in the industry need to be proactive, and we need the support of HUD to help educate Congress as well as the public. Otherwise, we risk constantly being portrayed as slippery crooks out for a quick buck. It’s an easy story for the media to tell and an easy story for people to believe unless there are substantive, organized measures to combat these perceptions. As has been stated there are many seniors who could be helped who are not being helped because Congress and FHA are taking their sweet time interpreting the guidelines as though the economy were not crashing and burning around us.
Mr. Helpful

Everyone would like change to happen immediately. Frankly, it is not that easy when a bill of the size of HERA passes. Too often the bill passes in a format that differs from the original. And too often the verbage varies from what the regulators (HUD) would have prefered.

I assure you HUD is interested in implementing changes as soon as possible. The implementation is often more than issuing a simple Mortgagee Letter.

The final ruling on loan limits will come soon enough and worst case scenario….it will have a January 1st start date.
John S

My problem with Congress and HUD is that neither communicated with one another during the writting of HR3221. The vague language on the loan limits was out there for some time. I trusted them (House & Senate) to have worked things out with HUD. Because of this lack of cooperation between Congress and HUD many people will suffer needlessly.
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