The problems afflicting the reverse mortgage industry took a turn for the worse recently, when the AARP Foundation filed a lawsuit challenging federal rules said to be forcing borrowers into foreclosure. AARP filed the suit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which regulates the reverse mortgage market. But the suit also [...] [...more]
The AARP Foundation filed an important lawsuit this week challenging federal policies said to be forcing borrowers into foreclosure. At issue is declining home values in the wake of the housing crash — and lending rules affecting married couples where only one spouse signs the loan documents. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development [...] [...more]
Reverse mortgage loans, which allow seniors to convert home equity into cash, have become more popular in recent years. But now the reverse mortgage industry and government regulators are dealing with a potential nightmare: a growing number of loan defaults that could lead to foreclosures, and even evictions of elderly homeowners in some cases. Non-performing [...] [...more]
Q: I was downsized in September, 2009 and decided to retire, since I’ll turn 68 this year. In a recent column, you made mention of the old rule–that people need to have 80 percent of their pre-retirement income to make ends meet in retirement. I used 70 percent of net income; I felt this was [...] [...more]
The reverse mortgage market is growing sharply due to provisions in the economic stimulus bill, according to the Los Angeles Times ,which cites Federal Housing Administration data showing a 17 percent increase in the number of loans the agency insured in March. The recently signed economic stimulus bill temporarily lifts the limit on the size [...] [...more]
