FHA Commissioner Julia Gordon spoke Tuesday at an online housing counseling conference hosted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Housing Counseling.

The changes are effective Sept. 28 and are necessary to improve the long-term stability of the HECM program, FHA said.

The court said a non-signatory to an agreement, in this case Ginnie Mae, cannot lay claim to the benefit of a forum selection clause.

New FHA home equity conversion mortgage endorsements increased 10.8% from the first quarter to the second. Year-to-date, though, volume was down from the first six months of 2023. (Includes three data tables.)

The Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association suggested changes for Ginnie’s planned HMBS 2.0 program.

The proposed rule seeks to create a permanent program governing the sale of seriously delinquent FHA-insured single-family mortgages and foreclosed home equity conversion mortgages.

FHA plans to retroactively adjust the calculation of debenture interest rates for claims filed on HECMs due or payable since Sept. 19, 2017.

The proposal aims to address issues that contributed to the failure of HECM lender Reverse Mortgage Funding in early 2022.

Ginnie Mae last week proposed a new pool type to allow repooling of home equity conversion mortgages that have reached their buyout limit. Comments on the HMBS 2.0 term sheet are due July 31.

Production of FHA reverse mortgages declined 11.4% from the fourth quarter to the first. Industry watchers are calling for reforms to increase program uptake. (Includes three data tables.)