HUD certifies housing counselors around the country to give homeowners impartial education about reverse mortgages. Reverse mortgage counseling is a mandatory part of the reverse mortgage application process and is typically completed just before or after completing an application for a reverse mortgage.

Reverse mortgage counseling can be done over the phone with one of the national counseling agencies or it can be done face-to-face with a regional agency.

After the counseling session, the counselor will mail a signed copy of the HECM Counseling Certificate to the homeowner. This certificate is presented to the lender with the reverse mortgage application.

Recently, many counselors have dropped their service charge from $125, to $89. Lenders are not permitted to pay this fee for applicants. However, under certain circumstances, the fee can be reimbursed to the applicant at the closing.

National Reverse Mortgage Counselors