Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation

Real Estate Weekly, Nov 3, 1999

Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation (Financial Freedom), a reverse mortgage direct lender, announced the securitization of the HomeFirst reverse mortgage loan portfolio, acquired by the company from Transamerica in June. Lehman Brothers, the New York-based global investment bank, will securitize the loan portfolio, issuing $317 million in bonds.

This represents the first U.S. securitization of a reverse mortgage loan portfolio. "The reverse mortgage business has been growing steadily but quietly for many years, and is now earning recognition as an asset class," said James R. Mahoney, senior vice president of Financial Freedom. "Consequently, an evolving history, heightened interest and Lehman's experience and access to the capital markets have created an environment that made this first U.S. securitization possible." Financial Freedom will use the capital raised through the bond offering to finance the growth of HomeFirst and continue the its expansion.