Understanding Reverse Mortgage Insurance Premiums

A federally-insured reverse mortgage comes with the benefit that you, the borrower, will receive loan payments as agreed upon by the terms of your loan, and will never owe more than your home is worth.

Those benefits are guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration through its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, which includes the vast majority of reverse mortgages out there.

In order to receive that guarantee, borrowers pay for it through the reverse mortgage insurance premiums. The first is a one-time insurance payment that is made upfront, and the other is an annual insurance premium that is paid to the FHA.

2017/2018 Changes 

At the end of August, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development unveiled some changes to its reverse mortgage program. An important part of the changes included a new cost structure for reverse mortgage insurance that is required of all borrowers who have federally-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages.

HECM borrowers basically buy into this insurance through an upfront fee and an ongoing fee. And like other forms of insurance, there comes with it some very important protections and benefits.

Read on to learn about reverse mortgage insurance and what it covers.

Upfront Mortgage Insurance Premiums

The first insurance cost that borrowers face is an upfront mortgage insurance premium. This “MIP” is a flat 2% premium based on the amount the maximum lending limit of $679,650 or your home’s appraised value, whichever is less.

Ongoing Mortgage Insurance Premiums  

Ongoing MIP rates are currently 0.5% of the outstanding loan balance, accrued annually and paid for when the loan is due.

Typically, mortgage insurance is designed to protect the lender in case a borrower defaults on his or her loan. But in the case of a reverse mortgage, there are some even greater benefits specifically geared toward the borrower.

What Does Reverse Mortgage Insurance Provide?

Reverse mortgage insurance offers several important protections for borrowers. In fact, these protections are typically even greater for reverse mortgage borrowers than for borrowers who have mortgage insurance through other FHA loan programs. That’s because they offer several key provisions, including the reverse mortgage’s “non-recourse feature”.

Loan proceeds are guaranteed. Reverse mortgage borrowers can opt to receive their loan proceeds as a lump sum, as a line of credit, or in ongoing installments. Reverse mortgage insurance guarantees that these loan proceeds will be disbursed to the borrower as agreed upon under the terms of the loan. Even if the lender goes out of business, the loan proceeds are still guaranteed. Similarly with a line of credit, the lender cannot cancel or freeze the line of credit when this insurance is in place.

Non-recourse protection. The balance for a reverse mortgage loan grows over time, which is contrary to forward home loans for which the borrower pays the balance down over time. You can imagine that in some cases, the loan balance on a reverse mortgage might grow for many years, and it might even be greater than the value of the home itself.

Reverse mortgage insurance comes with a cost, but the benefits are substantial too. By protecting both the lender and the borrower, this insurance is a key part of every reverse mortgage, and it’s important to understand just what it involves, should you become a borrower one day.

The experts at All Reverse Mortgage® are here to answer your questions! If you have an inquiry about the reverse mortgage insurance or other fees give us a call Toll Free (800) 565-1722 or calculate your reverse mortgage online.