False Advertising & Unsuspecting Seniors

False advertising, while not new, is cropping up often enough in direct mail pieces to prospective reverse mortgage customers that public and private authorities are expressing concern. Often appearing as if it is coming from an official (i.e. government) source, the appeals offer to help unsuspecting recipients - usually seniors - take the necessary and proper steps to obtain this specialty financial product. "It is a source of concern," says Peter Bell, president of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, who notes that the mailings "are not coming from lenders, but lead generation companies that don't understand the product." He adds that the most common mailings "are impersonations of government agencies which are not stating that HECM/reverse mortgages are a loan program."