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Tough new reverse mortgage licensing test designed to protect seniors 2010-02-20 A new licensing test for reverse mortgage counselors is vexing many of those who take it, the Charleston Post and Courier reported this week. The test is being administered nationwide by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. According to HUD, close to 1,000 reverse mortgage counselors have passed - but the Post and Courier reports that just two South Carolina counselors scored a passing grade. Counseling is mandatory for older people who apply for a type of reverse mortgage called a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. HECMs are backed by the Federal Housing Administration; as a result, they are the most popular kind of reverse mortgage by far. And in a bid to protect reverse mortgage applicants, HUD, which oversees the FHA, made its licensing test trickier. The Post and Courier quoted a HUD spokesman as saying that the agency "acknowledges [that] the test is intentionally difficult, but we believe it needs to be so because of the vulnerable population" that applies for reverse mortgages. In addition to the mandatory counseling, reverse mortgage applicants may want to consider looking online for trusted sources of information. It's best to be informed before making a major financial decision.  |
