In Reverse A Dull Year Would Be Much Appreciated By Thomas A. Barstow I AM BY nature a realistic optimist, so I often start the new year thinking about all the positives that could come my way, while understanding that anything can happen. After the past few years of turmoil, a dull 2023 would be much appreciated. I went into 2022 thinking the same thing, and it wasn’t too long before Russia went to war with Ukraine, gasoline prices started to spike, inflation picked up and the wacky political midterm election season took off. By the end of the year, interest rates on mortgages had doubled, from 3.5 percent to seven percent, as of this printing. To quote President Joe Biden, “Come on, man.” Anyway, at my age, my nature might be set, so I am looking at this issue of Reverse Mortgage through that same lens of a realistic optimist, too. In the cover story, Watching Washington (p. 18), we get some relatively good news, from my perspective at least. With the Democrats in control of the U.S. Senate and White House and the Republicans taking control of the U.S. House, we might be looking at a relatively calm year when it comes to legislative or regulatory activity surrounding reverse mortgages. NRMLA’s lobbyists were monitoring the midterm elections, where the result led to another two years of divided government. They point out that legislators on both sides of the aisle likely will have a number of high priorities over the next two years before the next presidential election, so they do not expect sweeping legislation involving reverse mortgages. Regulators will continue to tweak around the edges, which has been an ongoing process for years now, with many of the changes benefiting reverse mortgage companies and servicers. NRMLA has maintained sound relationships in key congressional committees no matter which party is in control. That has built trust, so when issues come up or parts of the reverse mortgage process need to be updated, the changes can go smoothly. And the HECM program has been sound, fiscally and administratively. “The program has been pretty significantly well run by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in recent years,” says David Horne, a NRMLA lobbyist based in Washington, DC. Scott Olson, who also is a NRMLA lobbyist, points out in the cover story that financial regulations usually happen when there are serious problems. And the HECM product has been stable because of the reforms implemented after the housing crisis 15 years ago. In Reverse continued on page 4 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2023 3
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