George Downey, CRMP, Founder of Harbor Mortgage Solutions, based in Braintree, MA, testified today before the Joint Committee on Financial Services in the state House of Representatives in support of legislation (H918) that would give reverse mortgage borrowers the option to be counseled via videoconferencing.
Massachusetts is the only state that requires in-person counseling. Most approved counseling agencies are clustered in the northeast corner of the commonwealth, leaving only one agency to cover the entire central and western sections and another to cover the southeast and Cape Cod.
“The requirement to travel, along with mobility issues confronting seniors, creates obvious challenges that continue to this day,” testified Downey, who has served on NRMLA’s Board of Directors since 2010.
Democratic Representative Paul Brodeur’s bill would add “video conference” as a second option. “Fortunately, the significant advances in teleconferencing quality and ease of use today (i.e., Skype, Face Time, Zoom and others) closely replicate the visual and audio experience of the in-person meeting,” said Downey.
To view a complete list of bills being tracked by NRMLA’s outside counsel and the State and Local Issues Committee, login to NRMLAonline.org. If you are aware of reverse mortgage legislation that has been introduced in your state that is not documented on our chart, please contact us right away by emailing dhicks@dworbell.com.