Reverse mortgage counseling funds will no longer be allocated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development separately from the overall pool of housing counseling funding, HUD announced this week through a Notice of Funding Availability.
Under the topic of supplemental funding, “HUD has eliminated the separate category for reverse mortgage counseling,” according to the NOFA. “However, reverse mortgage counseling continues to be an eligible activity under a Comprehensive counseling grant, so grantees can continue to support these critical services.
Previously, reverse mortgage counseling has been categorized separately from the greater housing counseling funds pool, which is allocated on an annual basis by HUD.
The impact of this change is yet unknown as counseling intermediary recipients of the overall funding will now be the ones to allocate specific reverse mortgage resources, rather than funds being designated by HUD as was done in the past.
“The purpose of this change is to simplify the application, data collection, and reporting for grantees. Funding reverse mortgage counseling continues to be a priority for HUD,” HUD stated in the NOFA.
The NOFA also states HUD’s encouragement of counseling networks, meaning there will be increased support including financial incentives for intermediaries that manage grantees, or sub-allocate funding to sub-grantees and branches. Incentives will include a flat award per sub-grantee-funded branch included in an application, according to the NOFA. Grant funding will depend on the number of branches or sub agencies the intermediary proposes to fund.
Written by Elizabeth Ecker
