Sept/Oct 2021 Reverse Mortgage Magazine

Senate Testimony: Reverse Mortgages Can Help Improve Retirement Security Reverse mortgages offer a potentially useful tool to convert illiquid housing wealth into money to live on during retirement, according to congressional testimony provided by Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on May 13 at a hearing on retirement security, Akabas noted that, “Americans own $21 trillion in home equity, a sum that could significantly supplement the nation’s $35 trillion of retirement assets.” Despite their potential usefulness, the reverse mortgage market is currently quite small, Akabas testified. He recommended that policymakers “work to improve this market and make it a simpler, more useful, and a more cost-effective tool for older, ‘cash poor’ Americans to utilize their home equity.” Other hearing witnesses included Lori Lucas, pres- ident and CEO of Employee Benefit Research Institute; Deva Kyle, counsel at Bredhoff & Kaiser, PLLC; and Dave Gray, head of workplace retirement products at Fidelity Investments. Among the general areas of agreement were further incentivizing small businesses to offer retirement plans and auto-enrolling workers. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), who took over as chair of the Senate HELP Committee at the start of the 117th Congress, called for addressing challenges faced by groups that she suggests have been historically overlooked— including minority groups, women, low-income earners and people with disabilities—in pushing for measures to update the retirement system. Watch a video of the hearing at bit.ly/3gSDJli . FHA Announces Catalyst Enhancements for HECM The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) imple- mented enhancements to the FHA Catalyst: Case Binder Module that will enable mortgagees to deliver case binders more quickly, securely and accurately for single-family for- ward mortgages and Home Equity Conversion Mortgages. “It is refreshing to see continual improvement from [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)] with automation, specifically the recent changes announced for the Catalyst system,” says Elly Johnson, president of All Reverse Pro in Hiram, GA, and co-chair of NRMLA’s HUD Issues Committee. ”The ability to receive and provide timely responses is much appreciated.” All mortgagees may receive emails regarding case binder requests from FHA Connection (FHAC) to be uploaded to FHA Catalyst. To ensure receipt of these communi- cations, mortgagees are encouraged to keep their email contact information current within the Lender Electronic Assessment Portal and FHAC. And now you’re up to date. LET US KNOW WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT. This forum is the place for readers to share their opinions with fellow colleagues about the direction of the reverse mortgage business and other retirement trends. Submissions should be limited to 100 words or less and submitted to Associate Editor Darryl Hicks, at dhicks@dworbell.com . Today’s decisions create Tomorrow’s reliable relationships It’s Time to Make Your Move! The Reverse Loan Origination System Powered By reverse express Baydocs@baydocs.net (888) 297-3627 REVERSE MORTGAGE / SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2021 11