At the end of August, the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency (DCHFA) announced that it had relaunched its Reverse Mortgage Insurance & Tax Payment Program (ReMIT), which originally began in 2019 and expanded in 2020 before being halted at the end of 2021.

Tikisha Wilson, director of single-family programs at DCHFA, sat down with HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD) to offer details about the program’s revival, what made it possible and the kind of assistance it seeks to provide to reverse mortgage borrowers residing within the nation’s capital.

Reason for ending

When asked if the prior version of the ReMIT program ended due to an exhaustion of allocated funds, Wilson instead explained that inflation was the primary culprit behind that action.

“After the legislation ended, the council realized there was still a need to assist the seniors that were under a reverse mortgage, and so temporary legislation has been passed to allow ReMIT to relaunch,” Wilson explained.

A permanent revival of the program is being considered, but Wilson is unsure when the D.C. council will convene to debate and potentially implement such a move. She has been told, however, that it could happen later in 2024. There is no end date for the current round of assistance.

“There’s not necessarily a cutoff point,” she said. “We’re just trying to help as many seniors as we can with the bucket of funds that we have that carried over from the previous legislation. “When the funds that were implemented under the previous legislation run out, the new legislation should be passed by then, so we won’t have a lapse in assistance.”

Vocal support

As far as why the revival was sought by her agency, Wilson said it simply came down to listening to the residents of Washington, D.C., and bringing it back based on what DCHFA was hearing.

“They were very vocal that there was still a need,” she said. “The community got out, they spoke with the council and to us, and it was determined that we wanted to fill that gap because there aren’t a lot of reverse mortgage assistance programs out there. Since the need was still there, and we already knew how to run the program — it was just dormant due to the legislation — it was a no-brainer to revive it.”

One of the reasons the program is described as a “no-brainer” is because it was quite successful as far as the agency’s assistance programs go, Wilson explained.

“It was very successful. Around $200,000 was distributed, and our average loan size was around $3,900,” she said. “So, that’s roughly 50 loans — 50 Washingtonians that we were able to help save their homes. It was very successful.”

DCHFA also listened to senior advocacy groups, including AARP and other foreclosure prevention specialists, who informed the agency that they continue to receive inquiries about the program, despite nearly three years having passed since it was last active.

“Since we looked at previous metrics when we did a look back, we saw it was very successful, and we wanted to do what we could to move forward and get this program back off the ground,” Wilson explained.

Expanded assistance

Under the guidelines of the revived program, eligible beneficiaries can receive up to $40,000 in assistance to pay delinquent property taxes, homeowners insurance or HOA/condo fees. The assistance will come in the form of a zero-interest deferred loan, and the maximum assistance level was increased compared to the prior version of the program.

One area that the agency wanted to address in the restarted assistance revolved around condominiums. Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) can apply to condos, and DCHFA heard from constituents that this was an area for improvement on the prior round of ReMIT program assistance.

“Since many seniors are on fixed incomes, we, along with the council, saw a need to include those fees in the assistance provided,” Wilson explained. “We also added additional overlays regarding the types of fees that can be covered. It made sense to increase the amount of assistance because, as you know, when more fees can be paid, the assistance level naturally goes up. It’s kind of a domino effect.”

To get the proverbial ball rolling for an applicant, DCHFA partners with D.C.’s housing counseling services division. Borrowers begin the intake process there, and they also receive associated counseling and help in setting up a budget to ensure they can “maintain themselves moving forward after receiving assistance,” Wilson said.

Hopes for permanent legislation

Wilson called this a “win-win” for the agency and the borrower.

“We provide the assistance, and the borrower gets to leverage the housing counselor to stay on the right path for future sustainability,” she said. “We also partner with legal services to complete all settlements. Our team works closely with both housing counseling services and legal services to negotiate ending foreclosure proceedings if they’re already at that stage.”

Wilson added that she and the agency look forward to ReMIT becoming permanent.

“It’s a necessary program,” she said. “There is a need, and there aren’t many programs focused solely on reverse mortgages and helping seniors with home sustainability. We want to ensure that residents can still leverage assistance when needed. We don’t want it to be just a temporary fix; we want it to be permanent. Life happens, and we want the district to know that we’re here to help fill in the gap when needed.”