Smartfi offers 50-bps reverse mortgage discount for veterans

A new offering from Smartfi Home Loans is aimed at expanding benefits for veteran homeowners through a lower interest rate on its proprietary reverse mortgage product.

In honor of Memorial Day, the company this week launched Choice Service, an enhancement to Smartfi Choice, the company’s proprietary reverse mortgage program that targets homeowners 55 and older. The Choice Service offering is essentially the same reverse mortgage product but with a 50-basis-point interest rate reduction for eligible veterans.

The offering is available indefinitely, according to Kim Smith, Smartfi’s senior vice president of wholesale lending.

In an interview with HousingWire‘s Reverse Mortgage Daily, Smith said that eligibility is based solely on proof of prior military service. Borrowers can provide documentation such as a military ID, a benefits letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or a DD Form 214 showing their branch and dates of service, she said.

Smith said the company developed the offering after hearing repeated feedback from originators and partners who wanted to see a reverse mortgage option tailored to veterans.

“Our originators had told us we’ve got a lot of feedback from our partners that something veteran-related would go over very well with our market,” she said. “That was the genesis of coming out with this.”

Early reaction to the program has been positive, with Smith saying that account executives and lending partners have expressed enthusiasm about having a veteran-focused option available.

While the company does not formally track how many of its reverse mortgage borrowers are veterans, Smith said the lender frequently works with former servicemembers and has identified a gap in the market for products that recognize military service.

“From a reverse mortgage perspective, there’s been nothing beneficial to them for their service,” Smith said. “This was our way of saying ‘thank you’ to the military service and hopefully helping more veteran seniors.”

Smith also said the proprietary reverse mortgage market has grown substantially in recent years, creating a more balanced industry alongside federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs).

“I think it’s much more balanced,” she said. “Five to seven years ago, it was really a majority of HECMs. Now there are more options, and that balance is important for the industry.”