MBA launches forum for reverse mortgages, senior lending

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Tuesday announced the launch of a new member forum dedicated to reverse mortgages and other senior-focused mortgage products.

The Senior Mortgage Solutions Network (SMSN) will provide MBA members a venue to discuss emerging trends, policy developments and business challenges tied to lending to older homeowners. Its scope includes Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), proprietary reverse mortgages and other home equity products designed for seniors.

MBA said the network will work to identify key policy, regulatory and operational issues affecting senior-focused products and the broader age-based mortgage market. The group is also intended to ensure senior-lending priorities are reflected in MBA’s advocacy agenda, education programming and member engagement efforts.

The inaugural co-chairs — serving two-year terms — are Longbridge Financial CEO Christopher Mayer and Guild Mortgage managing director of reverse Jim Cory.

“MBA has recognized that there’s really an opportunity in supporting senior lending,” Mayer said in an interview with HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily. “If you want growth, you’re either going to have to help more people buy homes at a younger age — you’re going to have to focus on first-time home buyers — or you’re going to have to focus on seniors, where there’s a lot of demand for using home equity and for products that support seniors in retirement.”

The announcement comes as reverse and proprietary lending expands. In 2025, roughly $4 billion in first-lien reverse mortgages were originated in the U.S., with proprietary (non-HECM) products accounting for about half of all volume — roughly double 2024’s proprietary production.

Major forward lenders including Rate, Guild, and loanDepot have also been moving into the space, Mayer said.

According to Cory, the network is intended for companies already active in, or evaluating entry into, the senior-lending segment. “The challenges and opportunities in this segment are immense, and this network will play a key role in advancing solutions that make a real difference for borrowers and lenders alike,” he said in a statement.

Broader than just reverse

Mayer added that the group was intentionally not branded as a reverse-mortgage forum because it is designed to address the senior demographic broadly, not a single product. He pointed that 1.5 million people age 62 and older applied for a mortgage last year, and 29% — about 450,000 — were rejected, often due to income-related qualification hurdles despite significant home equity.

Mayer also emphasized that SMSN is meant to complement, not compete with, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA). Mayer sits on NRMLA’s executive committee, while Cory co-chairs NRMLA.

“NRMLA does a really good job supporting reverse mortgages, and what MBA is able to bring to the table, that’s additive here, is institutions that don’t offer reverse mortgages,” Mayer said. “This is sort of: ‘How do we grow the pie? How do we bring people in?’”

Participation in SMSN will require MBA membership, and operational details are still being finalized. MBA said the network will meet quarterly — primarily virtually — with at least one in-person meeting each year at an MBA conference. A kickoff call is scheduled for July 8.

“Older borrowers are a vital segment of today’s housing market, and it is important for the mortgage industry to support innovative solutions that will help seniors achieve greater financial security,” said Anthony Siller, MBA’s policy manager for strategic industry engagement and staff lead for SMSN, in the announcement.