Shaun Donovan, the secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, sat down with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show last night. The two talk about a range of subjects including the $25 billion settlement with the banks. “[The money] helps a bunch of renters who are living in homes that have been foreclosed [...]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development sent a notice to counseling agencies warning them of prohibited marketing practices it has seen recently. According to HUD, a number of agencies that provide Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) counseling are marketing their services directly to lenders and requesting they place their name at the top of [...]

Reverse mortgage applications fell 4.9% in January 2012 to 5,795 according to the latest report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. While the number of applications fell, it’s far worse than the 18.9% decline in December 2011, which came in at 6,092. But it’s still the fifth consecutive month of application declines for [...]

In the wake of efforts by MetLife to implement a financial assessment for its reverse mortgage borrowers and Urban Financial Group releasing a financial assessment draft seeking feedback, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has not changed course in the development of its own rule. “Because of the specialized nature of this program, FHA [...]

After announcing premium increases to Federal Housing Administration loans yesterday, acting housing commissioner Carol Galante today defended the agency’s $44.8 billion budget request for Fiscal Year 2013. Galante fielded questions regarding the budget and stressed the need to repair FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance fund, which insures all FHA loans including its reverse mortgage portfolio. The [...]

The Federal Housing Administration will implement mortgage insurance premium increases to help bolster the agency’s capital reserves, acting commissioner Carol Galante said today. The changes will not impact Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), those already in a FHA-insured mortgage, or special loan programs to be announced in a forthcoming mortgagee letter. “After careful analysis of [...]