The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced that it intends to make modifications to its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) product, a reverse mortgage loan insured by the federal government, to make it more attractive and cost-effective for older home owners seeking to tap their home equity to cover living expenses and healthcare costs, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA).Read more

On Feb. 5, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed reverse mortgage insurance legislation, and it became the task of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) to create a marketable product out of the law. There were no models. So, HUD put a product-design team together. Edward J. Szymanoski, an Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs at HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research, was a vital member of that pioneering product-development team.Read more