As we have addressed on this blog, home equity investment (HEI) products, such as shared appreciation mortgages and home equity agreements, have come under recent scrutiny from regulators and industry groups. The crux of the debate is whether these products should fall under existing regulatory regimes for mortgage loans or require entirely new
On April 13, 2026, Maine enacted new laws (L.D. 1901) that are intended to have an immediate and retroactive impact on the origination and servicing of shared appreciation mortgage loans secured by residential real estate located in Maine.
According to the Coalition for Home Equity Partnership (CHEP), which represents the shared equity industry
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
Last month, in the unpublished opinion Olson v. Unison Agreement Corporation, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a home equity investment (HEI) agreement met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