In case you missed it…here’s a recap of reverse mortgage news this week:
HUD revealed that a HECM financial assessment requirement for borrowers is still in the works. A long awaited HECM financial assessment that would apply to borrowers is still pending the development of Federal Housing Administration staff, but the Department of Housing and Urban Development told RMD this week that the assessment progress is moving forward.
A House Republican subcommittee voted in favor of bills to reshape the CFPB. The three bills would reshape the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by restricting its authority and power, including altering the leadership of the CFPB from a having a single director to having a five-member bipartisan commission; would ease the ability of regulators on the Financial Stability oversight Council to overturn CFPB regulations; and would limit the work the CFPB can do without an appointed and confirmed director. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said the current structure is “radical.”
RMD compiled a snapshot of industry facts and figures. An estimated 88.5 Americans will be in the 65+ population by 2050 and 81% of householders 65 and older owned their homes as of fourth quarter 2010. Read more.
HECM endorsements lost a little steam, while Top-10 lenders gained market share in April. HECM endorsements fell 16.2% in April to 6,124 loans, according to a report from Reverse Market Insight this week. The Top-10 lenders comprised 67% of total volume in April.
The debate over Elizabeth Warren as a potential CFPB Director continued. We polled RMD readers and found that the majority (53%) feel Warren is fit for the director’s seat. (Forty percent felt she was not fit for the job, and for 7%, it was too soon to tell.)
…and home prices saw a double dip, according to Clear Capital. Clear Capital’s home price index shows national prices are down 0.7% from prior-year lows, seen in March 2009.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
