A federal report on consumer protection issues tied to reverse mortgages has been made public at a U-S Senate hearing in Missouri.

The Government Accountability Office says reverse mortgages or HECMs (Home Equity Conversion Mortgages) have several advantages but the program is relatively complex and there are substantial costs involved.

The GAO’s Director of Financial Markets, Matthew Scire (shur-RAY) has outlined the findings during a Senate Committee field hearing held in University City by Senator McCaskill.

While the study points to things the federal government needs to do, he says the federal housing agency says many problems are for states to solve.

Scire says the federal housing agency is moving to fill some gaps in federal regulations, including using more undercover investigators to find out if counselors are giving consumers accurate and complete information about the pluses and minuses of reverse mortgages.

Upload Mathew Scire’s testimony