The Appropriations Committee and Reverse Mortgages
If a mental picture comes to mind for the reverse mortgage industry it is the character “Neo” in the Matrix leaning back impossibly as he dodges bullets in slow motion. The question is, have we as an industry just dodged a bullet with the recent approval of the $150 million budget appropriation in subcommittee last week. The answer is yes, but only the first bullet.
The real question is where will we land after the full appropriations committee meets (The House) and then what will the Senate do with the request. What is interesting is only $150 million was requested versus the original $250 Million request which has been mentioned for months. To read the full article, check it out on ReverseMortgageDaily here.
What do you think? Will we get the $150 Million request for the HECM program through both houses and avoid another devastating Principal Limit Factor cut?
2 Comments
I believe the House and Senate are so far out of touch that anything is possible, even the impossible. This group of uninformed, lazy representatives are too caught up in themselves to make an intelligent decision.
Mr. Ellsworth,
With all due respect, I disagree.
Last month at the NRMLA Policy Conference, my wife visited with the chief of staff for Senator Boxer. She was pleasantly surprised by the clarity this gentleman brought to the conversation. He was far more than conversant on HECMs and both he and his boss are very much in favor of HECMs.
The same bias that exists in the senior community and the members of the financial advisor and legal communities is reflected in Congress. In fact negative bias is probably far less in Congress than anywhere else. Such overwhelming bias is “big” to fight and we are a very “small” industry. For the foreseeable future we will be fighting the subsidy battle each and every fiscal year.
For our size, we are doing well but to get what we need, we must turn up the notch and redouble our efforts. The members of this industry must do their best to meet with their Representatives and Senators and passionately but respectfully explain why this program must be supported by Congress. Complaints by small industries against Congress generally backfire.