At a time when consensus is hard to find in Washington, members of Congress, advocates for senior citizens, and representatives of financial services companies all agreed that reverse mortgages are an important tool in providing a better life for seniors, during a hearing conducted by the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity titled, "“Oversight of the Federal Housing Administration’s Reverse Mortgage Program for Seniors."Click to continue

Platinum Data Solutions, a provider of comprehensive collateral valuation technologies, has announced that San Diego-based Plaza Home Mortgage Inc. has implemented Platinum Data Solutions’ RealView appraisal review technology in its Reverse Mortgage Division, which transacts reverse mortgages nationwide. Reverse mortgage lenders have traditionally relied on automated valuation models (AVMs) and desk appraisal reviews in order to obtain a value on the property securing the transaction.Click to continue

Urban Financial Group Inc. has named Kenneth F. Sawan as vice president of retail sales, leading Urban’s retail expansion efforts. Sawan began his career in the reverse mortgage industry nearly 20 years ago. He has extensive knowledge and experience in all areas of origination, processing and leading professionals within the senior community audience. He has originated loans directly, managed both a processing center as well as a call center and managed a multi-state region for a retail business channel.Click to continue

MetLife Inc. has announced that it is exiting the reverse mortgage business, and that Nationstar Mortgage LLC will be purchasing MetLife Bank's reverse mortgage servicing portfolio. The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. MetLife Bank will no longer accept new reverse mortgage loan applications and registrations.Click to continue

Data released by the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) shows that senior home equity increased by $30 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. Seniors have $3.22 trillion in home equity available according to the most recent NRMLA/Risk Span Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI) report.Click to continue

The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has announced that it has indefinitely debarred three South Florida mortgage loan officers and a Pittsburgh title agent following their criminal convictions on charges they defrauded elderly borrowers, mortgage lenders and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Marcos Echevarria, Louis Gendason, John Incandela and Kimberly Mackey pled guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for their part in a $2.5 million nationwide reverse mortgage scam.Click to continue

As part of its continuing effort to help families find decent housing and to prevent future foreclosures, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has announced more than $42 million in housing counseling grants to 468 national, regional and local organizations. As a result of this funding, hundreds of thousands of households will have a greater opportunity to find housing or keep their current homes.Click to continue

A new study from the MetLife Mature Market Institute shows the age of those seeking a Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) has plummeted in the four years since the collapse of the housing market in the U.S. The study also finds that reverse mortgages have evolved into a way for many older Baby Boomers to help manage urgent financial needs. Boomers, age 62–64, currently represent one-in-five prospective borrowers of the product, which was once associated with a much older age group.Click to continue

One Reverse Mortgage LLC (ORM) has announced it has expanded and nearly doubled its headquarters to accommodate the company's continued growth. ORM will occupy one floor and 14,000-plus sq. ft. in its new office, located at 9920 Pacific Heights Boulevard, Suite 350 in San Diego, Calif. One Reverse Mortgage was founded in 2001, operates in 48 states across the U.S. and is a Quicken Loans company. Click to continue

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) has announced plans for its 2012 NRMLA Eastern Regional Meeting focused on the continued evolution of reverse mortgages, as well as a Reverse Mortgage Securitization Forum examining the emergence of HMBS and the secondary market. These two-conferences-in-one will take place Monday-Tuesday, March 26-27, 20012 at the Grand Hyatt New York.Click to continue