The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released a copy of its model legislation for reverse mortgages earlier this month at its conference in San Diego, CA.  According to the MBA, it’s meant to define a national standard of consumer protections for reverse mortgage products. The MBA believes that if reverse mortgages uniformly incorporate the principles in [...]

First Mariner Bancorp, the parent company of First Mariner bank disclosed in a SEC filing on Monday that it had entered into an agreement with banking regulators requiring it to boost capital levels, improve earnings and reduce problem loans.  In a statement issued Monday, First Mariner said its management and board of directors had already [...]

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development posted Mortgagee Letter 09-43, which announced a new set of principal limit factors for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) HECM program.  The changes will lower the principal limits for the HECM by 10%.    According to the ML, the new principal limit factors must be used for all [...]

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced some important changes being pursued by a rule making process which gives non-FHA approved mortgage brokers access to FHA insured products (ie. reverse mortgage).  The proposed changes also impose new financial requirements for Mortgagees to help to ensure that FHA lenders are sufficiently capitalized to meet potential needs said [...]

The Federal Housing Administration announced new guidelines on ordering appraisals for FHA-insured mortgages (ie HECMs) and reaffirms existing policy on FHA requirements regarding appraiser independence and geographic competence. According to the announcement, mortgage brokers and commission based lender staff are prohibited from ordering appraisals.  However, FHA is not requiring the use of Appraisal Management Companies [...]

In Miami, CBS 4’s Your Money Team covered reverse mortgages earlier this week and set up a dedicated “Phone Bank” devoted entirely to the subject due to the overwhelming interest from viewers. The segment features Myrtle Robinson, who decided to use a reverse mortgage to keep up with her bills.  Robinson explained, "When I learned [...]