Reverse Mortgage News

Loan Limits Should Be Raised For Reverse Mortgages

March 16, 2008

By Tom Kelly, Herald Net

While loan limits for conventional mortgages recently were raised with the passage of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, those seniors hoping to tap into additional home equity via the nation's most popular reverse mortgage are stuck with the same loan ceilings -- at least for now.

The Federal Housing Administration, a branch of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, insures the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, which accounts for nearly 85 percent of the reverse market. The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program has insured more than 240,000 reverse mortgages since 1990, while private jumbo reverse plans also have been available.

While FHA announced a temporary increase in loan limits for all "forward" mortgages as a result of the new legislation, Home Equity Conversion Mortgages were not included in the Economic Stimulus Act. FHA's loan limits for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages will retain the existing "floor" of 48 percent of the conforming loan limit or $200,160 as well as the "ceiling" of 87 percent or $362,790. Those areas in between are limited to 95 percent of the local median home value.

"This is very disappointing,'' said Lee McCutcheon, reverse mortgage specialist for Seattle Mortgage. "There are many seniors who have been waiting for the higher figures to be in place so that they could obtain a reverse mortgage or refinance an existing reverse mortgage. The increased limits would really help, and hopefully they will be adopted soon."

A reverse mortgage is a loan against a home that is not payable until the homeowner dies, sells the home or permanently moves out. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners age 62 and older to turn the equity in their home into cash without having to move or make a monthly mortgage payment. There is no minimum credit or income requirement to qualify for a reverse mortgage.

Many prospective borrowers believe they can qualify for a reverse mortgage equal or close in size to the value of their home, or at least the local FHA loan limit. This isn't the case. The actual loan amount will be equal to a smaller amount than these two figures (but still a substantial fraction of the home's value), in order to ensure that there will likely be sufficient equity left in the home when the loan comes due to assure full repayment.

According to Peter Bell, president of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, some regional increases in Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan limits were discussed as part of the stimulus package, but HUD ultimately focused on the conventional "forward" market and left Home Equity Conversion Mortgages out of the picture.

Continue reading the full article here