The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s assistant inspector general warned a Congressional committee on Jan. 9 of concerns regarding FHA’s ability to handle the increase in volume it has seen over the past year. James A. Heist, assistant inspector general for audit, testified that FHA needs to increase personnel, increase training for personnel and [...]

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation recently published Reverse Mortgages: What Consumers and Lenders Should Know. The report goes over the the history of reverse mortgages and why the aging population presents such an opportunity to banks. While there is big opportunity in catering to the aging demographic, the report notes that financial institutions have been [...]

Over the weekend, President-elect Barack Obama announced that Shaun Donovan will become the new secretary of Housing and Urban Development.  Donovan, a trained architect, served in the housing agency under President Bill Clinton and has been commissioner of housing in the New York City government since 2004.  In Obama’s announcement, he said HUD will be [...]

HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research recently published its 2008 State of the Housing Counseling Industry  Report.  The study covers all types of education and counseling services and provides an overview of the housing counseling industry and investigate the challenges it faces. A substantial amount of the report discusses how HECM counseling will continue [...]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently published a new FAQ document for servicing questions related to HECMs.  The FAQ includes 12 different questions that cover a range of topics.  It’s good to see HUD taking a proactive approach to addressing questions through its website. I’ve listed a couple of the questions below, to [...]

Today the Department of Housing and Urban Development published Mortgagee Letter 2008-38 to provide further clarification regarding the requirements for repayment of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) and for termination of a HECM mortgage. HUD’s Handbook 4235.1 REV-1, Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, provides in Paragraph 1-3C, that: