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NCOA Joins With HUD and NRMLA to Assist Struggling Reverse Mortgage Borrowers
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is conducting a pilot project in collaboration with U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) to help reverse mortgage borrowers who are struggling to pay property taxes and homeowners insurance.
“While reverse mortgages can help seniors to stay at home, these funds may be depleted over time,” said Barbara Stucki, vice president for home equity initiatives at NCOA. “With economic conditions putting pressure on many of these borrowers, we want to assess the services and supports to help them remedy their delinquencies and stay at home.”
By partnering with senior service agencies in Miami, Houston, Detroit, and Los Angeles, NCOA, HUD and NRMLA will identify ways to assist seniors with reverse mortgages who are most at-risk for foreclosure by not keeping up with their borrower obligations.
Case managers from the community partner agencies will work with reverse mortgage borrowers to pursue local tax relief options and identify other financial, legal, and housing solutions to resolve delinquencies. If appropriate, case managers will also help borrowers who need to move to other housing options, such as affordable-housing or supportive-housing developments.
All loans and solutions will be reviewed by NCOA and NRMLA experts to develop a set of recommendations on how best to assist reverse mortgage borrowers who are not meeting their borrower obligations.
Borrowers who receive a letter informing them about their delinquency should contact their loan servicer immediately and are eligible to receive free counseling from NCOA and other select HUD approved counseling agencies.
“This problem is primarily a result of a faltering economy—lowering home values and losses in retirement savings—and our members feel a strong responsibility to help guide those in need through this rough time,” says NRMLA President Peter Bell. “With the issuance of HUD’s new guidelines this week, we have a level-headed, clear road map to launch this process.”
Funding for the pilot program has been provided by seven NRMLA members including Bank of America, Celink, Generation Mortgage, Genworth Financial, MetLife, Urban Financial and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. This pilot program will run through at least mid-2011.
For more information, visit www.hud.gov, www.nrmlaonline.org or www.ncoa.org.
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