HW Media connects and informs decision makers across the housing economy. Professionals rely on HW Media for breaking news, reporting, and industry data and rankings. Moving the Housing Market Forward.
FHAHECMNewsReverse Mortgage

Deadline Nears to Submit Comments on FHA Reverse Mortgage Proposals

Reverse mortgage industry stakeholders have less than one month to submit comments regarding the Federal Housing Administration’s most recent proposals for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program.

The comment due date is July 18, 2016, for anyone who wishes to submit a public response to the FHA’s proposed rule issued last month, which codifies recent HECM reforms that have been implemented in the past several years.

The rule proposes some new changes for the HECM program, including but not limited to, capping lifetime interest rate increases on all adjustable rate HECMs to 5%, as well as reducing the cap on annual interest rate increases on HECM ARMs from 2% to 1%.

Several industry members have already expressed their concern for some of the proposals and their potential impact on the reverse mortgage marketplace and the secondary market.

As of this writing, just four comments have been submitted on www.regulations.gov—but there is still more time to voice any and all concerns to HUD.

Anyone interested in submitting comments regarding the proposed rule may do so by mailing responses to the Regulations Division, Office of General Counsel, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 7th Street SW., Room 10276, Washington, DC, 20410-0500.

Electronic submissions are also acceptable through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at www.regulations.gov.

HUD “strongly encourages” commenters to submit responses electronically, as this method not only allows commenters the maximum time to prepare and submit comments, but also ensures timely receipt by HUD.

To electronically submit a comment to FHA’s proposed rule, click here.

Written by Jason Oliva