As the reverse mortgage industry prepares for lower lending limits, one company believes it has a novel alternative to the federally backed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage — adapted from the world of commercial real estate.

EasyKnock, an online real estate brokerage, offers residential sale-leasebacks, patterned after transactions that are common for facilities such as office buildings and senior housing properties. For a homeowner, this would mean selling the property but remaining in the home, paying the new owner rent instead of a mortgage and releasing of the equity at once.

Jarred Kessler, EasyKnock’s CEO, touted the strategy in a column for Forbes this week, writing that the monthly rent would work out to about the same as ongoing reverse mortgage costs: Rents average 5% of the home’s cost, EasyKnock notes on its website, with typical rent increases of 2% per year. 

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The reverse mortgage industry honored Sherry Apanay with its Jim Mahoney Distinguished Service Award, recognizing her contributions to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage space.

Apanay, chief sales officer at Finance of America Reverse, received the award at the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association’s 18th annual Reverse Mortgage Day celebration, held earlier this month in Austin, Texas.

“The award is given to someone who gives more to the industry than she gets back,” FAR vice president of field retail and government Scott Norman said while announcing Apanay’s achievement. “In her 25 years in the reverse mortgage business, Sherry has exemplified this.”

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When the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced lower principal limits and higher upfront mortgage insurance premiums for certain reverse mortgage borrowers, officials cited the health of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund as the primary motivator. Without decisive action, HUD said, the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program would likely need a bailout from Congress to remain viable — a move that insiders have said the department would like to avoid at all costs.

But the HECM and the MMI Fund have had a complicated relationship, and HUD’s doom-and-gloom messaging about the reverse mortgage’s negative impact on the overall pool could renew calls to keep the forward and reverse programs separate.

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Each week, we highlight the jobs available at our sister website, the Reverse Mortgage Daily Job Board — your all-in-one resource for who’s hiring in the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage industry. Today, jobs from Live Well Financial and ReverseMortgages.com join an already robust list of opportunities nationwide.

For reverse specialists looking to build a referral network, local elder law attorneys can be a smart resource. These professionals work with seniors and their families to plan for long-term care needs, often helping them navigate their future housing options.

The National Association of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) has 4,500 members nationwide, with a searchable database on its website. A spokesperson for the organization says it does not have an official position on reverse mortgages, but it does offer members exclusive access to webinars and other online resources about the product.

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It’s been a common story in the world of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage-backed securities (HMBS) in recent months: Strong production was once again balanced out by significant levels of prepayments.

HMBS issuers created 92 new loan pools in August with a total value of $913 million, according to the most recent data from industry analysts New View Advisors. That total includes 52 original pools and 40 “tails,” or pools created from the uncertificated portions of previously issued HECMs.

Original pools accounted for $736 million of the total issuance in August, the most robust total since this time last year, New View noted.

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American Advisors Group is set to launch a forward mortgage division in October, according to an online job listing.

“AAG is changing the nation’s view of a reverse mortgage, and now launching the forward mortgage option,” the Indeed.com posting for a “Forward Mortgage Inside Sales” position at AAG reads.

“Due to this exciting launch, we are looking to hire 10 forward mortgage inside sales representatives to start with us early October,” the post continues.

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