The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which has been working on combining the Truth in Lending form with the Good Faith Estimate since May, is now testing the revised design with consumers and industry and is starting a new project: revamping the disclosure form that informs borrowers of final terms and costs at closing. With [...]

The Office of Thrift Supervision within the Department of the Treasury is soliciting comments on a proposed new schedule for Annual Supplemental Consolidated Data on Reverse Mortgages for its Thrift Financial Report (TFR). With the volume of reverse mortgage activity expected to dramatically increase, the agencies said they need to collect information from financial institutions [...]

Last week, the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan announced his intention to implement the mortgage reforms under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) which are scheduled to take full effect on January 1, 2010.  For the first time in more than 30 years, HUD is updating mortgage rules to help consumers [...]

The Obama administration is asking taxpayers to subsidize the Federal Housing Administration’s program for reverse mortgages for the first time.  The administration has requested that Congress appropriate $798 million for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), according to budget documents released today.According to the budget documents: The decline in house prices has adversely affected the [...]

Earlier this week, California Assembly member Mike Feuer introduced three different bills designed to help protect seniors vulnerable to abuse in nursing homes and exploitation in the marketplace.  "Especially in this economy, we need to take every step we can to protect seniors who may be at serious risk of abuse or exploitation," said Feuer. [...]

Yesterday the House of Representatives approved President Obama’s economic recovery plan with vote of 244-188.  The text of the bill does include the reverse mortgage provision which was added in response to a request that came jointly from NRMLA and AARP.  The provision would  set the single national loan limit for HECMs at a higher [...]