Oversight of the Federal Housing Administration's Reverse Mortgage
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OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION’S REVERSE MORTGAGE PROGRAM FOR SENIORS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INSURANCE, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 9, 2012 Printed for the use of the Committee on Financial Services Serial No. 112–123 ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 75–729 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 075729 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 K:\DOCS\75729.TXT TERRIE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES SPENCER BACHUS, Alabama, Chairman JEB HENSARLING, Texas, Vice Chairman BARNEY FRANK, Massachusetts, Ranking PETER T. KING, New York Member EDWARD R. ROYCE, California MAXINE WATERS, California FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York RON PAUL, Texas LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois NYDIA M. VELA´ ZQUEZ, New York WALTER B. JONES, North Carolina MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York GARY G. MILLER, California BRAD SHERMAN, California SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York SCOTT GARRETT, New Jersey MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas RUBE´ N HINOJOSA, Texas PATRICK T. MCHENRY, North Carolina WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri JOHN CAMPBELL, California CAROLYN MCCARTHY, New York MICHELE BACHMANN, Minnesota JOE BACA, California THADDEUS G. McCOTTER, Michigan STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts KEVIN McCARTHY, California BRAD MILLER, North Carolina STEVAN PEARCE, New Mexico DAVID SCOTT, Georgia BILL POSEY, Florida AL GREEN, Texas MICHAEL G. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania EMANUEL CLEAVER, Missouri LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia GWEN MOORE, Wisconsin BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri KEITH ELLISON, Minnesota BILL HUIZENGA, Michigan ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado SEAN P. DUFFY, Wisconsin JOE DONNELLY, Indiana NAN A. S. HAYWORTH, New York ANDRE´ CARSON, Indiana JAMES B. RENACCI, Ohio JAMES A. HIMES, Connecticut ROBERT HURT, Virginia GARY C. PETERS, Michigan ROBERT J. DOLD, Illinois JOHN C. CARNEY, JR., Delaware DAVID SCHWEIKERT, Arizona MICHAEL G. GRIMM, New York FRANCISCO ‘‘QUICO’’ CANSECO, Texas STEVE STIVERS, Ohio STEPHEN LEE FINCHER, Tennessee JAMES H. CLINGER, Staff Director and Chief Counsel (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 075729 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 K:\DOCS\75729.TXT TERRIE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INSURANCE, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois, Chairman ROBERT HURT, Virginia, Vice Chairman LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois, Ranking GARY G. MILLER, California Member SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia MAXINE WATERS, California SCOTT GARRETT, New Jersey NYDIA M. VELA´ ZQUEZ, New York PATRICK T. MCHENRY, North Carolina EMANUEL CLEAVER, Missouri LYNN A. WESTMORELAND, Georgia WM. LACY CLAY, Missouri SEAN P. DUFFY, Wisconsin MELVIN L. WATT, North Carolina ROBERT J. DOLD, Illinois BRAD SHERMAN, California STEVE STIVERS, Ohio MICHAEL E. CAPUANO, Massachusetts (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 075729 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 K:\DOCS\75729.TXT TERRIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 075729 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 K:\DOCS\75729.TXT TERRIE C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on: May 9, 2012 ....................................................................................................... 1 Appendix: May 9, 2012 ....................................................................................................... 31 WITNESSES WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2012 Bell, Peter H., President and Chief Executive Officer, National Reverse Mort- gage Lenders Association (NRMLA) ................................................................... 6 Coulter, Charles, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Single Family Housing, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ............................................. 5 Fenton, Daniel, Senior Housing Director, Money Management International, Inc. (MMI) ............................................................................................................. 8 Lewis, Jeffrey M., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Generation Mort- gage ....................................................................................................................... 10 Sanders, Anthony B., Distinguished Professor of Real Estate Finance, George Mason University, and Senior Scholar, Mercatus Center at George Mason University ............................................................................................................. 12 Shadab, Houman B., Associate Professor of Law, New York Law School .......... 14 Stucki, Barbara, Ph.D., Vice President, Home Equity Initiatives, National Council on Aging (NCOA) .................................................................................... 16 Trawinski, Lori A., Ph.D., Senior Strategic Policy Advisor, AARP Public Policy Institute ................................................................................................................ 17 APPENDIX Prepared statements: Bell, Peter H. .................................................................................................... 32 Coulter, Charles ................................................................................................ 45 Fenton, Daniel .................................................................................................. 55 Lewis, Jeffrey M. .............................................................................................. 63 Sanders, Anthony B. ........................................................................................ 76 Shadab, Houman B. ......................................................................................... 85 Stucki, Barbara ................................................................................................. 92 Trawinski, Lori A. ............................................................................................ 99 ADDITIONAL MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Biggert, Hon. Judy: April 2012 study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston Col- lege entitled, ‘‘How Important is Asset Allocation to Financial Security in Retirement?’’ ............................................................................................. 107 Letter to Congressman Gary Miller from Wendy Bucknum, Governmental & Public Affairs Manager, Laguna Woods Village, dated May 7, 2012 ... 135 Study entitled, ‘‘Reversing the Conventional Wisdom: Using Home Equity to Supplement Retirement Income’’ by Barry H. Sacks, J.D., Ph.D., and Stephen R. Sacks, Ph.D. ....................................................................... 137 (V) VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 075729 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 K:\DOCS\75729.TXT TERRIE VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 075729 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 K:\DOCS\75729.TXT TERRIE OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION’S REVERSE MORTGAGE PROGRAM FOR SENIORS Wednesday, May 9, 2012 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON INSURANCE, HOUSING AND COMMUNITY OPPORTUNITY, COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2 p.m., in room 2128, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Judy Biggert [chair- woman of the subcommittee] presiding. Members present: Representatives Biggert, Hurt, Dold, Stivers; Gutierrez, Sherman, and Capuano. Chairwoman BIGGERT. This hearing of the Subcommittee on In- surance, Housing and Community Opportunity will come to order. Good afternoon, everyone. I am glad to see all of the witnesses here. We have quite a distinguished panel here. And let me just say, without objection, all Members’ opening statements will be made a part of the record, and I am going to recognize myself for an opening statement. I would like to welcome our panel of witnesses today for the hearing entitled, ‘‘Oversight of the Federal Housing Administra- tion’s Reverse Mortgage Program for Seniors.’’ During the 112th Congress, this subcommittee has been system- atically reviewing the Federal Housing Administration, or FHA, in today’s mortgage financial, market. We also have examined ways to reduce the government’s role and increase private sector partici- pation in mortgage finance. Today, we will continue our work with an examination of FHA’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program, or HECM. This pro- gram offers seniors a 100 percent government-backed reverse mort- gage product. For some seniors, reverse mortgages are a great financial tool that will allow them to convert the equity in their home into cash for a variety of uses. That said, reverse mortgages are not for ev- eryone. That is why seniors are required to secure housing coun- seling prior to obtaining a reverse mortgage. In recent years, more seniors, particularly baby boomers, have used the program to turn the equity they have in their home into income. The HECM program also has seen an increase in delin- quencies and claims which have consistently exceeded the FHA’s original projections. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 18:28 Sep 18, 2012 Jkt 075729 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 K:\DOCS\75729.TXT TERRIE 2 Today, we will hear from witnesses about the strengths and weaknesses of this government program as well as reverse mort- gage products, and we will address a number