The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Mortgagee Letter 2019-15, in which it announced several modifications to the Mortgagee Optional Election (MOE) Assignment claim process for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) with FHA case numbers assigned before August 4, 2014. As background, the MOE is a foreclosure deferral program that provides
Eleventh Circuit Rules Reverse Mortgage Companies Not Prohibited from Foreclosing on Non-Borrowing Spouses
Mortgagees of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (“HECMs,” more commonly known as reverse mortgages) obtained a significant victory in an important federal appellate court, which ruled last month that non-borrowing spouses are not protected from foreclosure by the statute authorizing the HECM program. In Estate of Jones v. Live Well Financial, Inc., the United States
Florida Third District Court of Appeal’s Ruling in Favor of Reverse Mortgage Lender Signals New Positive Outlook for Non-Borrowing Spouse Issue
Reverse mortgage lenders received a significant victory in Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal last week when the court issued its decision in OneWest Bank, FSB v. Palmero. After previously ruling in Smith v. Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. and Edwards v. Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. that the surviving spouses of borrowers who had taken
FHA Issues Proposed Rules Related to Home Equity Conversion Mortgages
Last week, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) released for notice and comment a set of proposed rules affecting Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM), more commonly known as reverse mortgages. Below are highlights of the major changes.
On the origination side, the proposed rules revise the definitions of expected average mortgage interest rate and Initial
HUD Reverses Course (Again) on Non-Borrowing Spouses
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) continues to grapple with how mortgagees and servicers of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), commonly known as reverse mortgages, should proceed where a spouse that is not a party to the loan agreement or mortgage (a “Non-Borrowing Spouse”) survives a recently deceased borrower. In an August 24,