The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday issued a report describing several lenders’ reverse mortgage advertisements as confusing to seniors. Based on focus groups of seniors, the CFPB said several reverse mortgage ads inadequately disclosed that reverse mortgages are loans, offered incomplete or inaccurate information about loan terms and included illegible fine print.
The bureau also criticized ads that implied government backing for reverse mortgage products and advertised reverse mortgages as a “lifestyle enhancement” tool. The bureau did not name the lenders whose ads its focus groups reviewed.
ABA endorses a home equity conversion mortgage product from Reverse Mortgage Funding that differentiates itself by, among other things, emphasizing clear disclosures and enhanced consumer safeguards.
