Fannie Mae canceled the Home Keeper loan program as a result of the passage of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. The move may boost sales of the FHA-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM), which competed with the Home Keeper. Full Story
Miami-based Value Financial Mortgage Services has added $2 million to its existing reverse mortgage funding capacity, its CEO Nelson Locke said. Full Story
A pair of seniors claim that a reverse mortgage broker was complicit in a scheme to steal nearly $300,000 from the couple's bank account. Full Story
Fidelity Reverse Mortgage laid off 11 employees and loan officers as it cuts back its origination platform to focus on more productive lending states, said President David W. Full Story
Gold Reverse Inc. temporarily suspended its jumbo reverse mortgage product at the request of its financial backer. Full Story
REX & Co., which provides a non-debt home equity conversion alternative to the reverse mortgage, expanded its program into four Mid-Atlantic states. Full Story
Rising interest rates and declining yields have caused a handful of reverse mortgage origination companies to exit or pull back from the market in Australia and New Zealand, according to The Move Channel, a web site that follows real estate trends for international investors. Full Story
A borrower or their heirs who want to keep their house must pay the entire balance of a reverse mortgage on the property, not just what the home is worth, the Federal Housing Administration told the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. Full Story
1st Reverse Financial Services named two regional executives for its wholesale lending division. Full Story
EverBank Reverse Mortgage will soon drop the EverBank name and operate under the MetLife Bank name, after its acquisition by insurance company MetLife Inc. in May. Full Story
New Law Expected to Increase Overall Volume
The reverse mortgage industry was jolted by HUD's interpretation that the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, signed by President Bush on July 30, prohibits paid broker advisers. HUD's new policy could make it more difficult for a customer to walk into their local bank and ask for a reverse mortgage.
On the other hand, the new interpretation could be advantageous for FHA-approved lenders who may receive more business. Full Story
HECM Limits Further Restrict Market
The jumbo reverse mortgage sector is not as large as the name implies, as the lack of liquidity in the overall mortgage market has caused lenders to cut back on the offering. Only a few major institutional players supply reverse debt to seniors with higher home values now.
Jumbo loan production is likely to shrink even further now that the Federal Housing Administration's lending limit for HECM loans has been increased. Moving into 2009, lenders will likely try to cater to a more financially secure customer base with a new breed of jumbo reverse loans. Full Story
Lenders are dropping their HECM 150 and lower margin products after Fannie Mae raised fees associated with purchasing all mortgages. Fannie Mae is practically the only market for mortgages priced off the Constant Maturity Treasury (CMT) index.
The list of lenders that have terminated the loan includes Bank of America, World Alliance Financial, Financial Freedom, James B. Nutter, and Wells Fargo. Full Story
- NRMLA Issues Member Alert to Clarify HECM Rule
- Financial Freedom Moves Servicing to Texas
- Guardian First Funding Expands
- All Reverse Shuts Down, Employees Hired by NCS
- Landmark Acquires ReverseMortgageAppraisers.com
- 1st Reverse Names Regional Executives
- OmniHome Moves Headquarters
- North Carolina Credit Union Launches RM Program
- RMS Launches Origination Software System
- Massachusetts Launches Reverse Mortgage Website



