HomeEquity Bank Snapshot
HOMEQ (formerly known as Home Equity Income Trust) invests directly and indirectly in reverse mortgages originated by its Canadian Home Income Plan (CHIP) subsidiary. Reverse mortgages allow homeowners over the age of 60 to stay in their homes while turning part of their home equity into a cash loan (CHIP typically loans up to about a third of the home's value); no interest or principal on the loan is due until the house is sold. HOMEQ's portfolio contains some 7,000 reverse mortgages worth more than $800 million. In 2009 the company converted from an income trust to a corporation in order to operate CHIP as a deposit-taking bank; CHIP plans to change its name to HomEquity Bank.