When I read that Canada’s HomEquity Bank released a reverse mortgage product available to people 55 and older, I was impressed. Someone was offering a product that wasn’t available here in the United States. Up in Canada, the market for reverse mortgages is continuing to grow, up 16% from last year and brings HOMEQ Corporation’s [...]

The information that can be gleaned from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest HECM data is quite revealing.  For example, since the inception of the program until the fiscal year 2010, the highest overall ratios of MCAs to average appraised values is in the last three fiscal years.  Currently it is over 95% while for [...]

Some recent comments in Reverse Mortgage Daily caused me to take another look at the HECM-to-HECM refinance issue. While hardly determinative, a simple example has caused me to call for a new disclosure form specifically designed for HECM-to-HECM refinancing transactions. We cannot ignore the potential abuse and so called headline risk which could result from [...]

It is clear to all reverse mortgage participants that something has to be done to improve our image. It was the reoccurring theme at the recent NRMLA conference. But talk can be cheap and without a coordinated, concerted effort to take control of our public perception, we may struggle to convince lawmakers, regulators, seniors and [...]

Late last month Mr. Bob Greene stated:  “I have often wondered why there is such an uproar … against using a portion of reverse mortgage proceeds to fund LTCi or an ILIT. These … can be valuable tools to assist in protecting ones estate and legacy.…. I was always under the impression that the goal [...]

With the enactment of any new law, the first questions that arise surround the date that the act goes into effect and the problems that the new law creates. Unlike federal legislation, there is no HUD like agency to provide guidance or direct the implementation of California Assembly Bill (AB) 329. In other words, do [...]