Precise Control. Expert Execution. ASSET MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS Five Brothers’ reputation for integrity, accuracy, and reliability has been built upon a relentless drive towards customer satisfaction. For over 55 years our expertise in nationwide field services, advanced technologies, and unrivaled Reverse/HECM/FHA expertise continues to build value for our customers, while improving communities across the country. Experience the Five Brothers difference… stronger results from the ground up.™ www.fivebrms.com • 855.552.8020 Inspections • Property Preservation • Violation Resolution Utility Management • Registration Services • Hazard Claim Repairs REO Asset Management and Disposition Safe. Sound. Secure. In Reverse Proprietary Reverse Mortgages Speaking of proprietary reverse mortgages, the cover story—Turning a Corner on Proprietary Reverse Mortgages (p. 16)—looks at the state of these products. The article, written by Joel Berg, explores some of the current thinking about the product, as well as its future. “We’ve hopefully turned a corner with our market, and we’re going to start seeing more originations across the board,” Doug Ziegler, national reverse mortgage sales manager for University Bank, tells Berg, looking ahead through 2024. In addition, he and others already are looking at Gen Xers and how they might benefit. Experts aren’t quite sure how this next generation will react to reverse mortgages. But reverse mortgage professionals are paying close attention to this demographic, with Berg reporting that the oldest members of Generation X are turning 59 this year. HECM Handbook Good news came out in the fall regarding the HECM product. NRMLA members have been busy going through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) updated Single-Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1, which includes sections for reverse mortgages, that HUD released in October. All of the rules and regulations are in one place now. HUD was willing to accept comments that could help clarify wording or to make minor changes before April 29, 2024, when the new guidance goes into effect. The beauty of modern technology is that further tweaks likely will be added to the searchable PDF periodically in the future. “Everyone offering the HECM product or those interested in getting into the reverse mortgage space should download the guide and keep it handy as their reference tool,” Elly Johnson, who helped spearhead the review process for NRMLA, says in the article HECM Handbook Arrives (p. 28). Pretty soon, all generations will be as fluent with these new tools—and hopefully vastly more familiar with what reverse mortgages have to offer—as we once were with a fax machine and telephone landline. Thomas A. Barstow, senior editor of Reverse Mortgage, is a writer and editor based in Pennsylvania. REVERSE MORTGAGE / MARCH-APRIL 2024 3
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