Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp. said Monday  that it plans to buy Transamerica Financial Corp.'s reverse mortgage unit   in a deal valued at $200 million.   
Financial Freedom said Lehman Brothers provided the capital for the  deal. 
  
Reverse mortgage lenders provide senior homeowners with equity from  their homes that can be used for living expenses or in-home assistance. The   loans, which carry relatively high fees, allow seniors who otherwise might   be forced into nursing homes to stay in their houses. When the homeowner   dies, the loan comes due.       
Transamerica HomeFirst Inc., has over 6,000 reverse mortgage loans,  which Financial Freedom would securitize with Lehman over the next few   weeks.   
  
Lehman Brothers has deemed the reverse mortgage market "an area of  potential growth in the MBS arena," said Craig Corn, the investment bank's   senior vice president of mortgage-backed securities.