I truly hope that they don’t just talk to upper management at the major companies for their feedback.  They need to get some originators that work directly with clients involved also

I believe those of us in the RM business should contact the OOA. They need to come out and go on calls with RM originators and meet the seniors and families , so they get a good idea of how important the RM program is and how much impact a RM has on them. They need to look at the GOOD that RM causes, instead of focusing on the bad.

Amen!

Everyone needs to take a deep breath.

The CFPB is now a fact of life.  While it is perfectly all right to rail
against it, perhaps lowering the fear factor in this context will lead to a
more reasoned conversation about an organization which has a mandate from
Congress to provide a document on reverse mortgages with specific topics.

The head of the Office of Older Americans is someone who
does not have a reputation of being a zealot or radical.  Skip Humphrey is a life long liberal Democrat
with views in line with his father and mother (and AARP).  If he is actively overseeing this study, one
would expect it to read exactly as the vast majority of consumer advocates view
our product, a loan of last resort.

Beating our heads against the wall telling bureaucrats that
they need to walk a mile in our shoes is an exercise in futility.  They have been assigned the responsibility to
research and based on that research report to Congress.  They will do what they do.

Realize the CFPB might talk to us lowly originators but do
not expect it.  Most likely they will be
taking testimony from industry execs, the modus operandi of bureaucrats.

The CFPB is the brain child of Elizabeth Warren (the last
name of some man she was once married to before her current husband, Bruce Mann,
back when she was a Oklahoma born Republican going
to college at the University
of Houston).  Mrs. Mann most likely approved all of the hiring
of the employees who will be working on this project other than Skip.  The former Ms. Herring (I am now confused by
all of her last names and political party affiliations) was somewhat known for
saying that she was “not fond” of reverse mortgages.  This is the secret lingo of senior (consumer)
advocates which means that reverse mortgages are a “necessary evil” and a loan
of last resort.

Do not think that by introducing consumer advocates to
a few happy borrowers their prejudice will magically melt away.  While that might help to tone down negativity
in the report, the report will present the old and discredited cases of the
past plus the more legitimate negative claims of some borrowers and their
families.  It will no doubt also point
out that most borrowers seem satisfied and will go on to conclude whatever the
current bias of the authors is which will no doubt reflect the thoughts of Ms. What’shername
and her peers.  Since Skip has a
significant stake in AARP, no doubt the study will address the non-borrowing
spouse.