I would like to offer a rejoinder to Mr. Bell's response, not necessarily because I believe Consumer Reports was right, but because I don't believe they were wrong….

You can find my 800-word response here:
http://www.reversemortgage.net/in-defense-of-co…

As usual, thanks for your thoughts. I hope you had a great weekend.

For some reason my first post on this story was not published, only the second which had the link to the information used by WSJ on their article about FHA's financial reserves. I guess there was a problem with the post or the server. Anyways what I said in my post was that it was about time we had a response from NRMLA on the attacks that had been conducted against our industry by the different media outlets. However, in todays day of quick political firing shots, responses like this must be much swifter. As an example I cited the story from the The Wall Street Journal reported on friday that the agency, might fall below the 2 percent capital reserve ratio demanded by Congress because of rising defaults on mortgage loans it insured. A few hours later, FHA Commissioner David Stevens said, “Even if that level falls below 2 percent, FHA continues to hold more than $30 billion in its reserves today, or more than 5 percent of its insurance in force. Given this reserve level, FHA will not need a congressional subsidy even if the congressional capital reserve calculation falls below 2 percent.”

The swift response by the commisioner Stevens is exactly what is needed by our industry representatives. The time scales of the response must be in hours or minutes, and not in days or weeks. If you allow a story to be sitting out for a little too long, the rebuttal may not be effective enough because folks tend to forget very quickly.

I know fact checking takes time but it is almost as if no denials or rebuttals are presented then even with a good story supported by strong facts may not be enough to keep the pressure. As for the rebuttal by NRMLA, my congrats for a job well done.

As for your comment on FHA transparency, welcome to Washington DC!!! The fact that the HECM info was kind of hidden was a blessing in disguise all those previous years. Now the HECM is part of MMI fund and it is all there mixed in with the rest of the insurance fund other programs. Unfortunately there was no info about any of the particular programs under the MMI fund. The analysis is for the overall program. One good thing is to understand the logic used by FHA and others in how they determine the capital reserve ratios, even the housing appreciation model. If I find financial info for the HECMS I will surely share with the community.

While this is great info on the financial condition of FHA but does not focus on HECMs. Can you point us to something on just HECMs?

I for one am troubled by the deliberate hiding of the condition of the HECM program under the cry that it has taken in a certain amount of revenues. Those making such arguments know better but seem intent on disguishing the actual condition of the HECM financial condition.

This is but another strike against transparency, something that is needed now more than ever. When will the wild claims and cries die down and the needed information begin to be provided.

http://www.realestateconsulting.com/PDF/FHA_Stu…

or here:

http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102692772040&s=23097&…

Interesting info about the MMI fund.

Enjoy!!