The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published Mortgagee Letter 2009-10 to clarify several issues regarding HECM counseling for prospective borrowers. According to ML 09-10, FHA wants to ensure that prospective borrowers initiate the request for HECM counseling. Lenders may not contact a counselor or counseling agency to refer a client, discuss a […]
Category: Counseling
Earlier this week, the Arizona House Banking and Insurance Committee agreed to set up new regulations for companies offering reverse mortgages. HB 2513 includes some mandatory disclosures and counseling requirements which were already required by HUD, but Robert Zumoff, an assistant state attorney general said “proprietary” lending is not covered. "This is a bill that […]
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it’s creating a new HECM counseling survey to obtain information about borrowers counseling experience. The information obtained will help HUD determine performance reviews of counseling agencies. According to the Federal Register Notice, HUD is soliciting comments from members of the public and affected agencies concerning the […]
Dual certification of counselors by both federal and state governments is causing a logjam in some states. Jack Belles, president/co-founder of Reverse Mortgage of New England, based in Plainville, Mass., says it is taking two weeks for his applicants to get the required counseling there – a comparatively long time. And, Dave Bancroft, CEO of […]
Earlier this month, Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Greater Atlanta announced that it was merging with Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) of Central Florida & The Florida Gulf Coast. Together these agencies provided a range of counseling services to an estimated 550,000 consumers during 2008. The merger enables CCCS of Greater Atlanta to significantly […]
HUD recently published a HECM for Purchase Training presentation for HECM counselors on its website. The powerpoint includes slides that covers the monetary investment requirement, allowable funding sources, role of the real estate agent, and other topics regarding the HECM for purchase. Along with the powerpoint, HUD posted a recorded conference call it conducted for […]
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 […]
Today Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that $50 million in housing counseling and counseling training grants that will go out to nearly 400 national state and local agencies. The counseling grants will assist families in becoming first time homeowners and remain homeowners after their purchase. A portion of the grants will help […]
On Monday Senator Claire McCaskill accepted a national award presented by AARP for her legislative work to protect senior citizens from aggressive marketing and predatory lending in the reverse mortgage industry. The award is part of AARP’s Congressional Award program which honors members of Congress for their efforts on behalf of Americans over the age […]
When the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was signed into law by President Bush, the Bill called for HUD to consider utilizing some of its FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium income to pay counseling costs. The provision was supposed to allow borrowers to receive counseling from an independent third party not associated with the […]
