The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program is critically important and requires ongoing attention, the acting Federal Housing Administration commissioner told reverse mortgage lenders during a presentation on Tuesday. Stressing the need to prevent tax and insurance default and regain housing counseling funding, Acting Commissioner Carol Galante presented a very supportive outlook for the HECM program. [...]

Local government in Beijing, China, is planning to experiment with reverse mortgages as a way for people to finance nursing home care, although “unpredictable real estate policies” will make it difficult to popularize this model, say industry insiders in a Beijing Global Times article. Insurance companies, commercial banks and public housing management departments will be [...]

Genworth Financial now has a reverse mortgage iPhone and iPad application for financial professionals on the go, available on iTunes. Released earlier this week by Genworth Financial Home Equity Access, the free application is touted as “easy to use,” and provides the latest news and information about reverse mortgages. “Reverse2Go is a premier application that [...]

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is facing cuts from House and Senate bills that would put its budget at the lowest level in a decade, in inflation-adjusted terms, at a time when housing needs are becoming more urgent, says the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “These reductions in funding would come [...]

The 31-member board of directors of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association and its special financial assessment task force today approved and published guidance on limited underwriting for property charges for HECM lenders. “NRMLA members are encouraged, but are not required, to follow NRMLA guidance including this guidance of limited underwriting of property charges,” said [...]

In prepared testimony delivered by Acting Federal Housing Administration Commissioner Carol Galante, Galante urged a House Financial Services subcommittee to consider the importance of housing counseling and funding restoration—including reverse mortgage counseling—in the context of the greater housing crisis. “Housing counselors are a crucial source of assistance for distressed homeowners,” Galante stated in testimony before the [...]