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Reverse Mortgage News for Seniors
Reverse Mortgages to Get Critical Look from Senate
Committee on Aging
Sen. McCaskill leads investigation of pressing
need to strengthen consumer protections for seniors as they consider
this type of loan
 Dec. 10, 2007 The reverse mortgage program, which
has boomed in recent years as a way for senior citizens to draw from the
equity in their homes but continue to live in them, is in for some
unusual scrutiny on Wednesday. A news release from the Senate Special
Committee on Aging says Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) will hold a hearing
to highlight the pressing need to strengthen consumer protections for
seniors as they consider this type of loan.
Twenty years have passed since the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) first established the Federal
Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program to allow people over the
age of 62 to transfer equity on their home into monthly income.
For some seniors, a reverse mortgage is a solution
for their financial woes, but for others, according to the news release,
it has the potential to significantly worsen their financial
situation.
Among those scheduled to testify are Carol Anthony,
who is identified only as a victims daughter. The committee release
says the hearing will hear from family members of those negatively
impacted by reverse mortgages.
Others on the list to testify include Don Redfoot,
Ph.D., AARP; George Lopez, James B. Nutter & CO; Prescott Cole,
Coalition to End Elder Financial Abuse, and an unnamed representative
from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Committee members will question the panel on the
need to ensure proper consumer protections for seniors, such as adequate
financial counseling for those taking out loans on their home equity, as
well as new industry trends, including aggressive marketing and use of
reverse mortgages to fund unsuitable annuities and other unneeded
financial products, according to the committee announcement.
The hearing, Reverse Mortgages: Polishing Not
Tarnishing the Golden Years, will open at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec.
12, 2007, in Room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
The hearing will also be Webcast live. For the
final list of those to testify and links to the Webcast and other
information
Click Here
>>
More information on Sen. McCaskill
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