Home equity products enable homeowners to unlock the value of their homes through a variety of financing contracts. Each product has distinct features, benefits, and risks. In this post, we compare and contrast common home equity products, including home equity lines of credit (HELOC), closed-end home equity loans (HEL), reverse mortgages, and home equity agreements
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a request for information (RFI) on October 2, 2025 titled “Future of the HECM and HMBS Programs and Opportunities for Innovation in Accessing Home Equity.” The title alone underscores the RFI’s importance for all participants in HUD’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program
Last month, in the unpublished opinion Olson v. Unison Agreement Corporation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a home equity investment (HEI) agreement met the definition of a reverse mortgage under Washington law and was not, as the company intended, a real estate option contract (2025 WL 2254522
On June 30, 2025, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a large “budget trailer” bill that will have significant consequences on the mortgage industry. In relevant part, the new law addresses foreclosures on so-called zombie second mortgages. And while some regulation in this space may be warranted to ensure best practices, California’s new rule may
At the tail end of the Biden administration, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) published Mortgagee Letter 2025-06, which was tilted Updates to Servicing, Loss Mitigation, and Claims. The 251-page mortgagee letter outlines various changes to FHA’s servicing requirements in Handbook 4000.1, such as updated requirements for forbearances and extending the availability of
On March 11, 2025, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) aimed at disrupting drug trafficking and money laundering along the southwestern border. The GTO significantly lowers the Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) threshold from $10,000 to $200 for money service businesses (MSBs) operating in 30 zip codes across
With the recent developments at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), many mortgage lenders have been left wondering about the extent to which the CFPB will enforce federal laws governing the mortgage lending industry. Many industry participants expect a significant reduction in CFPB enforcement activity for the foreseeable future. While the states could ramp up
In a bit of a surprise development at the end of 2024, the United States Senate passed the Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act, which amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to include specific restrictions on the use of trigger leads in the residential mortgage lending space. While industry groups applauded the Senate’s passage of
On January 7, 2025, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) officially revised its Defect Taxonomy (Final Defect Taxonomy) with the publication of Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2025-01 and the related attachment detailing those changes. The changes are effective as of January 15, 2025, and will be implemented in Appendix 8.0 of FHA Handbook 4000.1 at a later
On December 19, 2024, the Fair Housing Administration (FHA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a draft Mortgagee Letter proposing a new Optional Reimbursement Claim Alternative (ORCA) program. ORCA is intended to allow mortgagees to seek reimbursement for property tax and insurance payments the mortgagee advances on behalf of forward