David Horne, who is based in Washington, DC, says one reason is that the HECM program continues to gain acceptance on Capitol Hill among legislators, staff members and regulators partly because of the reforms implemented after the housing crisis 15 years ago. Horne credits those successes to NRMLA’s leadership that works closely with officials in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA). “Historically, NRMLA has been ahead of the curve in working with the agencies, including HUD, to put the appropriate guardrails on the HECM product. I would be surprised if there were additional regulations on the reverse mortgage product,” Horne says. “Congress is unlikely to impose big changes to the program in the near future.” Divided Government The 2022 election also cemented a divided government for at least the next two years, with the Democrats keeping control of the Senate and the Republicans gaining a majority in the House. The administration of President Joe Biden will concentrate on other issues as both parties prepare for the presidential election in 2024, observers say. “I don’t think we will see major housing legislation,” says Melody Fennel, a NRMLA lobbyist based in Alexandria, VA. However, she does expect the administration to tackle other housing matters, such as availability. “I think the focus will continue to be on addressing housing affordability and the strong and persistent need for an increase in housing supply. That’s what the [Biden] administration is focused on. That is what both Democrats and Republicans in Congress have looked at, too.” Scott Olson, who is based in Arlington, VA, says he, too, expects a continuation of what has happened in recent years. Over the past two years, Olson says, “almost nothing happened in Congress in terms of legislation affecting the reverse mortgage program or FHA.” Unless there is a severe economic downturn, the next two years will be similar, he says. Olson suggests that new money might become available for rental housing as a way for the Biden administration to address its concerns over affordability and housing access. Tweaking the HECM Program Horne says he would expect policymakers to continue to incrementally address lingering issues with the HECM program, noting more recent changes have been important but amounted to tweaks. For example, Horne points to FHA efforts to update and correct its “due and payable” requirements. Mortgage servicing companies now must provide notice to a borrower’s heirs that a HECM is due and payable within 30 days of the companies providing notice of the borrower’s death to the Secretary of HUD. The change, NRMLA and HECM servicers welcomed, gave servicers more time to send the notices to a borrower’s estate. “There are some issues that are outstanding, and they’re trying to address those issues,” Horne says. “But they are minutia, so it’s not something that Congress is likely to directly regulate. I don’t see any statutory changes to the program.” Horne says he would expect the House and the Senate to hold hearings on various housing topics as they usually do. “So, you might have hearings that may include FHA and, tangentially, reverse mortgages,” he says. “But I would be shocked if there are any in-depth hearings on mortgages in general, short of the one or two hearings they do every year.” The lobbyists expect federal regulators to focus on Biden’s mandate that all federal agencies look at all programs through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). “I believe all federal policy proposals will be made through the DEI lens into the foreseeable future,” Fennel says. “I don’t think that changes.” Over the past two years, forward and reverse mortgage companies have come under some scrutiny for marketing and advertising practices, including fines and other actions taken by the Consumer Financial Watching Washington continued from page 19 Watching Washington continued on page 22 20 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2023
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