Shawn Stillman Quoted on BNN Bloomberg – Don’t-pay-til-you-die reverse mortgages are booming in Canada

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/don-t-pay-til-you-die-reverse-mortgages-are-booming-in-canada-1.1316615

Canada’s big five banks have so far shied away from the product. Only two lenders offer them in Canada. HomeEquity Bank, whose reverse mortgage has been on the market for 30 years, dominates the space with $3.11 billion on its books. Equitable Bank, a relatively new player, has $10.1 million. Shares in parent Equitable Group have surged 75 per cent to a record this year.

Critics say reverse mortgages are a high-cost solution that should only be used as a last resort.

“When they think of their cash flow, they’re not going to get kicked out of their house, but in reality, it really has the ability to erode the asset of the borrower,” Shawn Stillman, a broker at Mortgage Outlet, said by phone from Toronto.