New legislation may hurt consumers more than it helps

http://www.inman.com/buyers-sellers/columnists/tomkelly/reverse-mortga ges-risk-in-washington-state

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Well-intentioned consumer groups have done an admirable job of curbing the abuses of mortgage lenders, but recent legislation passed in Washington state will inadvertently curtail the number of lenders able to offer reverse mortgages. Lenders in other states are watching with interest.

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"There are some lenders who have been HUD-approved for years who will no longer be able to offer reverse mortgages in the state of Washington," said Don Burton, founder and CEO of Evergreen Home Loans and president of the Washington Mortgage Lenders Association. "HUD has gotten stricter and conducts regular audits. Given those safeguards and HUD's requirements, I would hope federal law might trump state law in this case."

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Bottom line; I'm not so sure the Feds would have/could have avoided the same screwup... the financially uninformed legislators (driven by an equally uninformed general public) are making irrational heavy-handed fear-driven restrictive decisions... and it is inevitable that the good will be sacrificed in the name of speed and simplicity.

Cheers,
Dave Donhoff
Leverage Planner