In the aftermath of the national foreclosure crisis, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, to help prevent California homeowners and homebuyers from being impacted by fraudulent mortgage practices, has signed legislation increasing consumer protections in the lending market, including providing law enforcement with more teeth for cracking down on deceitful mortgage practices. These bills are aimed at strengthening [...]

In a nutshell, the Commissioner explained that from its enactment, the HECM program was intended to operate without any credit subsidy. While one might argue with OMB’s recent assessment, the fact is that OMB’s number is the “governing” number here and accordingly, there needs to be credit subsidy, or program changes, in order for the [...]

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development posted Mortgagee Letter 09-43, which announced a new set of principal limit factors for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) HECM program. The changes will lower the principal limits for the HECM by 10%.
According to the ML, the new principal limit factors must be [...]

The California Assembly passed a bill earlier this week, which is meant to provide an additional level of protection to senior citizens considering reverse mortgages.
Passed by a vote of 49-29, SB 660 requires that a checklist be provided to the consumer prior to the mandatory counseling session and states that any person who recommends [...]

“While reverse mortgages can provide real benefits, they also have some of the same characteristics as the riskiest types of subprime mortgages – and that should set off alarm bells,” Comptroller Dugan said. The experience with subprime mortgages “clearly demonstrates the link between compliance and safety and soundness.”
Reverse mortgages provide a source of income or [...]