Over 200 people packed a conference room at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre on Saturday 17th April to find out more about Reverse Mortgages and what BARP plans to do to fast track the implementation of this financial option for property owning seniors which allows them to release funds from the equity in their homes without having to make any repayments for as long as they continue to live there.

The distinguished panel including Senator The Honourable Maxine McLean, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, who is also an enthusiastic and supportive BARP member, enlightened the assembled crowd about the importance of this financial product being made available to seniors in Barbados as soon as possible.  The Senator was extremely supportive of Reverse Mortgages as an option for home owning seniors and saw it as making a vital contribution to the ability of seniors to remain in their own homes and meet the cost of ensuring they could continue to enjoy the standard of living to which they had either become accustomed, or to which they aspired in retirement, having ‘done their bit’ to raise a family who were now capable of looking after themselves financially.

Fellow panellists and ex-banking professionals, Tony Marshall, Harry Russell and Stephen Cozier all added their points of view, putting Reverse Mortgages under the microscope from a social, economic and banking perspective.

During an extremely productive open forum session following an informative video presentation, a member of the audience asked for a show of hands by those present who would take up a Reverse Mortgage if the product was available tomorrow.  The response made it clear that there are a substantial number of people who want this product made available in Barbados.

Volunteers were invited to come forward to form a BARP Committee on Reverse Mortgages which will research, collect and collate legislation and regulations from countries currently offering Reverse Mortgages, like the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.  This information will then be tailored to suit the local market, following which legal support will be enlisted to draft a Green Paper to present to the Ministry of Finance. 

Former banker Tony Marshall made it clear that BARP will, "draft a green paper, white paper, whatever paper is necessary and let the Government move from there. We don't want reverse mortgages in 2032, we want it very shortly," he said to thundering applause.

Harry Russell felt the banks may not be the first to respond to Reverse Mortgages.  Encouraged by comments made my Senator McClean, Mr. Russell suggested that perhaps the credit unions who he pointed out had been giving the banks a run for their money, might be the first to respond.

Stephen Cozier highlighted that there was much work to be done before Reverse Mortgages could become a reality in Barbados and welcomed the news that BARP is committed to spearheading the effort to prepare draft legislation and regulation.

After the presentation, many people signed up to be kept in touch with develpments and a number of willing volunteers came forward to offer their services on the BARP Committee for Reverse Mortgages.

Said one enthusiastic member, “This was great.  I now understand exactly what is involved in Reverse Mortgages and I am glad BARP is going to take the baton and run with the preparation that needs to be done.”

Others wishing to register their interest, whether in general or to serve on the committee, can use the contact form on this website.

A most useful document produced by AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) was circulated to all those who attended.  A copy can be downloaded from the AARP website at http://assets.aarp.org/www.aarp.org_/articles/money/financial_pdfs/hmm_hires_nocrops.pdf