Reverse Mortgage for Veterans in for long battle

This story was first posted at Army Times.

The proposal — currently pending before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee — would allow the Veterans Affairs Department to provide a home equity conversion mortgage, or HECM, to U.S. veterans. Under the plans, sponsored by Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine), veterans age 62 and older could receive monthly payments from the VA that would be based on how much equity they have in their home and how long they would like to receive monthly payments. The payments would have to be repaid, with a fee, when the home is sold either by the veteran or by survivors.

Opponents say the bill does not provide anything that the existing Federal Housing Administration loan program doesn’t. Keith Pedigo, the VA’s loan guaranty service director, said the FHA program may be better, he said, because it fully insures lenders against “all losses,” while the VA only guarantees a percentage of a mortgage, generally one-quarter of the full amount. Full Story

Written by charles dennis on June 27th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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