Reverse mortgage stakeholders fielded questions Tuesday before a Congressional panel comprising two senators. Spanning topics from non-borrowing spouse issues to details on program changes proposed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sens. Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey) and Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) sought answers on the best course of action for sustaining the Home Equity [...]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced $40 million in funding awards to housing counseling agencies and intermediaries nationwide, including funding for reverse mortgage counseling.  The agency recently changed the way it allocates funds to include all counseling funding under a single grant rather than separating reverse mortgage counseling funds. The grants, totaling [...]

As the housing market rebound continues to strengthen, with annual home prices rising more than 10% nationally, it may be premature to think the nation is setting itself up for another bubble, according to Standard& Poor’s Ratings Services. While double-digit price gains are unsustainable, according to S&P, it is too early to consider the current [...]

 Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ:Z) launched a tool on Tuesday that provides a collaborative shopping platform via mobile and the web streamlining communication and organization for real estate agents and home buyers working together during a home search. The tool, called Agentfolio, has a limited initial launch in Chicago that is expected to eventually extend to Boston, [...]

Following the April 1 suspension of the fixed rate standard reverse mortgage, the lending community says it is seeing far fewer applications for new loans.  With some of the fallout to be expected following the change, the most recent data available from the Department of Housing and Urban Development indicates applications for April and May [...]

A U.S. Senate subcommittee will hold a hearing Tuesday to discuss the sustainability of the reverse mortgage program. The Senate Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development will meet in an open session for its hearing “Long Term Sustainability for Reverse Mortgages: HECM’s Impact on the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF).” Sen. Robert Menendez, chairman [...]

Mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial Corp. (NYSE:OCN) announced in an 8-K filing last Thursday its plans to buy Pasadena, Calif.-based OneWest Bank’s mortgage servicing rights for $2.5 billion.   Ocwen, based in Atlanta, Ga., plans to buy $78 billion in unpaid principal balances of mortgage servicing rights using a combination of cash and available credit in [...]

Following changes to the language regarding the non-recourse nature of reverse mortgages under the Federal Housing Administration’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, language for counselors and lenders has been updated officially. In April, 2011, the agency published Mortgagee Letter 2011-16 to rescind guidance issued in 2008 to clarify its non-recourse policy on reverse mortgages insured [...]