HUD Testimony Shows Significant Program Growth

by Peter G. Miller
December 19th, 2007
Related Stories
Story Tools

Meg Burns, Director of the FHA’s Single Family Program Development program, had some interesting facts and statistics regarding reverse mortgages, data which gives us some perspective. Here are the significant items from her statement before the Senate’s Special Committee on Aging.

*HECMs continue to be at the forefront of the reverse mortgage industry, representing approximately 90 percent of the business today.

*Over the last four years, HECM volume has increased steadily, from 37,000 loans in 2004 to 107,000 in 2007.

*In spite of the program’s success, we at FHA recognize there are areas for improvement.
We have worked with the industry – including the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Foundation – to address some areas of concern. For example, we are working together to reduce the transaction costs and to improve the availability of quality counseling across the nation. Over the last year, we have been assessing the upfront fees, such as the origination charge and the mortgage insurance premium, to determine whether any costs can be eliminated or reconfigured to make the product more affordable and appealing to consumers while maintaining actuarial soundness of the premium.

  •  | 
  •  | 

 

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 3:55 pm and is filed under Reverse Mortgage . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “HUD Testimony Shows Significant Program Growth”

  1. Dennis Says:
    December 19th, 2007 at 6:53 pm

    Peter-

    If we do not get safeguards in place for our senior RM borrowers… and the same people who origanted toxic “forward” loans continue to jump into the reverse mortgage business, it won’t take long until the 107,000 HECM loans drops down to nothing.

    The media is looking for a reason to print a story about “loan consultants” or “brokers” taking advantage of seniors. It will hurt the whole industry…and fast.

    I hope what happened with subprime loans will not move over to the reverse mortgage side! It will really hurt a lot of seniors who need the help.

  2. Peter G. Miller Says:
    December 20th, 2007 at 7:46 am

    Dennis –

    You make exactly the right point. The reason we need lender licensure and regulation is to protect the public interest AND to create a level playing field for ethical lenders and loan officers.

    Why much of the lending community opposes the very standands which will protect their interests is a mystery — to say nothing of short-sighted.

  3. Dennis Says:
    December 20th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

    ….but it seems that the government always moves after we have a BIG problem. They are not very good at preventing a problem from happening.

    I pray that the subprime vultures are not circling these older people looking for a new crop of borrowers to feast on. Thinking that this will save them from the mortgage market blow up.

  4. Reverse Mortgage | Reverse Mortgage Guide Says:
    December 20th, 2007 at 5:44 pm

    [...] Reverse Mortgages — HUD Testimony Shows Significant Program Growth [...]

Leave a Reply