Reverse Mortgage Daily recently reported that, last week, the House of Representatives passed a continuing resolution that the number of reverse mortgages allowed outstanding under Federal Housing Administration insurance would be suspended once again, this time through September 30, which is when the next fiscal year begins.

The cap is currently set at 275,000 loans but has been suspended numerous times over the past five years through Congressional appropriations and continuing resolutions. The cap has been raised from 2,500 in 1990 to 25,000 by the end of 1995. The current cap was set back in 2006.

At a Senate Banking Committee hearing last week, Peter Bell, President and CEO of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association, urged Congress to permanently erase the cap, saying that it deters lenders from providing such loans and keeps market competition “at a minimal level.” The Senate is expected to introduce its own continuing resolution by the end of the month.