Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and its parent company Hanna Holdings have made their feelings about the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) clear. 

In a letter sent to NAR and over 70 MLSs on Wednesday evening, company CEO Hoby Hanna called CCP “misguided” and a “bad policy,” claiming that its adoption in 2020 was due to “fear that brokers were pursuing novel marketing strategies and taking advantage of new technologies,” and that “NAR should not be dictating how Hanna Holdings and other brokerages operate their businesses.”

The letter was first reported by Inman News. A spokesperson at Howard Hanna confirmed to HousingWire that the letter was authentic. 

Hanna also wrote that the firm does not feel that CCP is “binding,” despite NAR classifying the rule as “mandatory.” 

“Hanna Holdings does not consider the Clear Cooperation Policy binding and, accordingly, no Hanna Holdings affiliate or franchisee will adhere to the policy as a matter of course,” the letter states. “Instead, Hanna Holdings and its affiliates and franchisees will determine on a market-by-market basis where to require their listing brokers to submit listings on a multiple listing service within one business day of marketing the property to the public. It will make these decisions based on its own business interests and independent of NAR and of any other brokerage.”

Hanna added that his firm has “never agreed to or with the policy and voted against its adoption in 2020.”

NAR has confirmed that despite Howard Hanna’s defiance, the policy remains mandatory, however it is up to individual MLSs to enforce the policy. 

Howard Hanna is not the only firm to disavow CCP. Compass has been one of the policy’s most vocal critics. Back in March prior to NAR unveiling its Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy, which created delayed marketing exempt listings, Compass sent its own letter to MLSs suggesting changes to CCP and warning them that they would face legal exposure if they did not make these changes. After NAR unveiled its MLOS policy, which allows for delayed listings to be displayed in VOW data feeds, Compass sent another letter to MLSs asking for delayed listings to be removed from VOW feeds. 

Counseling is an essential part of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) origination process, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has recently refreshed some of its guidance documents for HECM counselors to offer essential information.

HUD this month published a “toolkit” detailing how someone can become a HECM roster counselor. The document “outlines the steps required for HECM roster certification, including training, examination, and maintaining active status, and emphasizes the importance of providing accurate and unbiased counseling to potential HECM borrowers,” HUD said.

The document outlines the basics of the HECM program and its associated counseling requirements; details the steps for gaining HECM roster certification from the agency and offers other resources for HECM roster counselors.

The HUD housing counselor certification is separate from the HECM roster certification, though there is some overlap. A counselor “must be a HUD certified housing counselor and on the HECM roster to provide HECM origination counseling,” the document explains, meaning an extra step is required for a HUD-certified housing counselor also seeking to provide services for HECM borrowers during origination.

Standard HUD-certified counselors can provide reverse mortgage default or other types of reverse mortgage origination counseling, but require a HECM-specific certification for the origination of Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed HECM loans.

“HECM roster counselors must not offer or perform any services that conflict, or appear to conflict, with the best financial interests of the client,” the document said. “In turn, reverse mortgage lenders may not steer, direct, recommend or otherwise encourage a client to seek the services of any one particular counselor or counseling agency.”

A second, smaller document was also issued this month designed specifically for HUD-approved counseling agencies. It provides guidance on what agencies need to know about HECM and reverse mortgage counseling.

It reiterates some of the requirements outlined in the first document, adding that HUD-approved counseling agencies “may also provide general group education on reverse mortgages, but this does not take the place of one-on-one counseling required for the HECM certificate,” it reads. “There are a few key steps an agency must take to provide reverse mortgage and/or HECM counseling.”

The document also offers information about adding HECM counseling to an agency’s work plan; addressing the method of delivery for counseling services (i.e. virtual, telephonic or in-person); communicating fees and disclosures; supporting HECM roster certification and compliance; and maintaining client file documentation.

Last month, nonprofit counseling agency Credit.org announced it will offer more prospective reverse mortgage borrowers a new e-learning course that aims to demystify reverse mortgages for interested parties.

An existing reverse mortgage-backed securities issuer and wholesale lender is making a new play for the retail space, according to a new announcement.

GoodLife Home Loans, dba of Bellevue, Wash.-based Traditional Mortgage Acceptance Corporation (TMAC), announced this week that it has launched a new retail reverse mortgage division to add to its existing efforts in the wholesale space.

GoodLife is one of the leading Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) lenders on the wholesale side, as well as a major issuer of Ginnie Mae HECM-backed Securities (HMBS). The company called the launch of the new division a “significant milestone” as it aims to bring its team of reverse mortgage industry veterans more directly to the retail lending channel.

The division at present consists primarily of four loan officers. Two of them, Linda Weilert and Catalina Gonzalez, had previously served at Open Mortgage’s reverse division prior to its closure in late 2023.

For Weilert, a 17-year reverse mortgage industry veteran, it is still early days for the new division’s operations but she told HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD) that the experience so far has been a positive one.

“The corporate leadership has been outstanding,” she said when reached on Friday. “They’re supportive, committed to the retail space and the culture is great. Processing and underwriting is very professional. We’re the first loan originators in the retail space for them, and we’re hoping to make an impact in it. They’ve been very supportive, and I’m honored to be in this next chapter with them.”

The division also consists of LOs Marilyn Brown Ross and Chris Weilert. All told, they collectively possess “over 40 years of industry experience, deep product knowledge and a track record of success serving seniors across the country,” the company said.

Anthony Gaglione, senior marketing manager at TMAC, said that hiring the right people has been a core priority as the company has worked to stand the retail division up.

“We’ve hired the best and brightest, most successful reverse mortgage specialists,” Gaglione said in a prepared statement. “This new retail division is built on a foundation of integrity, trust and leadership, and we are excited to bring our wholesale expertise to consumers through this dynamic team.”

The company’s position as a Ginnie Mae issuer gives it market differentiation, it said, and the retail division will follow the same principles that have guided its wholesale efforts. The division is also seeking to attract new originator talent, Gaglione added.

“We offer the most aggressive compensation package in the industry,” he claimed. “If you’re a reverse mortgage professional closing 10 or more reverse mortgages annually who wants to be part of a high-performance, forward-thinking organization, we want to hear from you.”

GoodLife/TMAC is an active member of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA). Brett Dunn, chief investment and chief operating officer at the company, was elected as the treasurer of the NRMLA board last fall.

Australia is forecast to miss its housing-crisis busting 1.2 million new homes construction target by almost a year, and will not hit annual goals any time in the next decade.

The country is also tipped to be building the same number of units as houses each year from 2030 onwards, as housing shortages and population growth force prices up, likely ushering in rising interest rates again within the next five years and forcing a downsize to the great Australian dream for many.

New figures from the Housing Industry Association show the nation’s lacklustre home building numbers are likely to have bottomed out last year with growth ahead in 2025.

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But annual totals will top out at almost 213,000 in 2028, and begin to fall again a year later.

In 2030 the nation is expected to build 210,000 homes, and about the same number all the way through to 2035.

The National Housing Accord has set a target of 240,000 homes to be built each year by 2029 in order to add 1.2 million new residences to Australia’s housing supply and address the country’s housing affordability crisis.

The latest figures from HIA show just 986,000 will have commenced before the deadline, and only 945,000 are expected to be completed.

It is just above the 936,000 forecast from the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council earlier this week.

HIA chief economist Tim Reardon said consistently missing the 240,000 a year target would force more unit and apartment builds, but it was also feasible Aussies would start gravitating to relatively affordable cities — especially those with downturn-resilient employment industries, like Adelaide, which is becoming a unicorn capital.

Mr Reardon said this would be at the expense of more mature capitals including Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

The economist said that after 2030 their data had a number of assumptions built into it, including thousands of apartments they have manually added to Queensland’s projections to reflect a home boom expected in the lead up to the 2032 Olympics.

However, the key forecast of a post-2029 decline was centred on the price of homes rising alongside population, which was also likely to cause future interest rate hikes.

To give a sense of the scale of the building crisis ahead, the economist pointed to population projections released by the Victorian government in their state budget this week, which showed Melbourne would have to build enough homes to house the population of Adelaide, about 1.5 million people, over the next five years.

“And the housing shortage becomes more acute until we exceed that rate of home building at 240,000 homes a year in a sustained way,” Mr Reardon said.

Key solutions for governments to get more homes built centred on reviewing the tax regime around housing construction and purchases, he said.

HIA are also forecasting “robust” numbers of renovations as Australians who already have a home opt to avoid paying additional stamp duty costs by extending their homes and updating them to fit changing needs, rather than relocating.

Metricon chief executive Brad Duggan said houses would lead the initial recovery from recently weak figures.

“But we are seeing appetite for townhouses increasing with our customers and that aligns with how developers are cutting up blocks,” Mr Duggan said.

“In South Australia we are seeing significant demand for townhouses in the market.”

However, he said the big driver for how development progressed from here would be on land release.

In areas like Victoria where governments are pushing for more high-density housing, the boss of the nation’s biggest home builder said it was probable stand alone houses would have a cap on their construction that could limit overall success in reaching construction goals.

“But customer confidence has moved in the past two months and there’s been a lot more activity going into deposits to build homes,” Mr Duggan said.

South Australia and regional Victoria had recorded the biggest moves, with the boost reflecting interet rate reductions.

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