Reverse Mortgage magazine Nov-Dec 2020

The Biz EVERYTHING NEW YOU NEED TO KNOW 65+ Population Grows by 34 Percent Over Past Decade U.S. Census Bureau statistics show the nation’s 65-and-older population grew by over a third (34.2 per- cent or 13.7 million) during the past decade and by 3.2 percent (1.7 million) from 2018 to 2019. The growth of this population contributed to an increase in the national median age from 37.2 years in 2010 to 38.4 in 2019, according to the Census Bureau’s 2019 Population Estimates. In 2019, one in five people in Maine, Florida, West Virginia and Vermont were age 65 or older. Maine had the largest share (21.2 percent) of population in that age group, followed by Florida (20.9 percent), West Virginia (20.5 percent) and Vermont (20 percent). Utah had the lowest percentage (11.4 percent) of population age 65 and older followed by Washington, DC, (12.4 percent) and Alaska (12.5 percent). 55 Percent of Working Households Face Retirement Challenges Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 55 percent of working age households in America are now at risk of being unable to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living, according to a report published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The Center for Retirement Research publishes the National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) every three years to gauge retirement preparedness in America. “The NRRI has most likely increased from 50 per- cent to 55 percent, and changes in asset prices and further declines in the interest rate would only make the increase larger,” says the report’s authors. “Finally, the NRRI does People are talking about ... not fully capture the harm done to a population with so many households already at risk, as the pandemic has made the savings gap larger.” The results underscore the need for policies that provide well-targeted assistance to employers and indi- viduals aimed at preventing more people from becom- ing unemployed and getting those who are unemployed back to work quickly as the pandemic subsides, the report continues. The shorter the spell of unemploy- ment, the less harm people will experience to their long-term retirement prospects. New York Adopts Revised Reverse Mortgage Regulations The New York Department of Financial Services adopted revised Final Regulations under Part 79 of the General Regulations of the Superintendent (“Part 79”), which covers proprietary reverse mortgages made under Sections 280 and 280-a of the New York Real Property Law and HECMs made under Section 280-b of the New York Real Property Law (“Section 280-b”). The Final Regulations, published on July 29, adopt in large part industry comments submitted by NRMLA. The Final Regulations: • Revise the requirements around property charge set asides to state that such set asides may include all or some of the items defined as property charges under Part 79; • Define borrower and termination events in a manner more consistent with HECM regulations; • Remove the requirement for a letter of credit for lend- ers making private reverse mortgage loans that are fully funded at closing; and • Change the Counseling Affidavit to a Counseling Acknowledgement and provide that a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Counseling Certificate may be substituted for a Counseling Acknowledgement. 8 REVERSE MORTGAGE / NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2020