Reverse Mortgage Requirements
Every borrower must be 62 or older and live in the home as a principal residence. You complete HUD-approved counseling, and the lender completes a financial assessment. There is no minimum credit score, but your credit is still reviewed.
Quick answer
Saxton Mortgage does. At least one HECM program we offer is available to buy or refinance an owner-occupied primary residence, and it has no minimum credit score. You must complete counseling with a HUD-approved HECM counselor before the application is processed. Non-occupant co-borrowers and irrevocable trusts are not eligible, and the program is not offered in Massachusetts or North Carolina.
Who can qualify
Each item below is an FHA rule for the HECM or a requirement of our reverse mortgage program.
- Every borrower is at least 62 by the closing date. There is no maximum age.
- The home is each borrower’s principal residence, and you can have only one principal residence at a time.
- U.S. citizenship is not required. Lawful permanent residents and citizens of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands or Palau may be eligible on the same terms as U.S. citizens.
- You hold title in your own name or in a living trust, as fee simple ownership, a qualifying leasehold or a life estate. For a HECM on a home you already own, at least one borrower must be on title before the application date. Our program does not accept an irrevocable trust.
- Everyone on title, including a non-borrowing spouse, completes counseling with a HUD-approved HECM counselor before the application is processed.
- The lender completes a financial assessment of your willingness and capacity to meet your financial obligations on time and comply with the loan’s requirements.
Age 62 or older
Your principal residence
Citizenship is not required
Title or a living trust
Counseling before processing
A financial assessment
What Does It Take To Qualify?
FHA sets the core HECM rules, and our reverse mortgage program adds a few of its own. Here is what is reviewed, from counseling to credit to the home itself.
Counseling comes first. Everyone on title, including a non-borrowing spouse, attends a session with a HUD-approved HECM counselor and signs the certificate. The lender gives you a list of counseling agencies that includes national and telephone options and at least five agencies in your state or area, with at least one local agency for face-to-face counseling. You contact one yourself to schedule. Sellers, real estate agents and the lender cannot be present, and the lender cannot pay the counselor. The certificate is valid for 180 days. Until the lender has it, they cannot charge you fees or process your application.
Every HECM includes a financial assessment. There is no minimum credit score, but the lender pulls a credit report and reviews your history. Your payment history can be considered acceptable when housing and installment payments were on time for the past 12 months, with no more than two 30-day late mortgage or installment payments in the past 24 months. The lender also checks that property taxes and HOA, condo and PUD fees are current with no delinquencies in the past 24 months, and compares your residual income with a standard for your family size and region.
If your credit or property charge history falls short and no extenuating circumstances can be documented, the lender must require at least a fully funded Life Expectancy Set-Aside, or LESA, which uses HECM proceeds to pay your property taxes and insurance. If your residual income falls short and no compensating factors can be documented, at least a partially funded LESA is required. If a set-aside still would not bring your residual income up to the standard, the HECM cannot be approved. In our program a partially funded LESA is available on adjustable rate loans only and pays you twice a year toward taxes and insurance, while a fully funded LESA can be used with fixed or adjustable rate loans. To see how the rest of the money can be paid out, see our reverse mortgage page.
Why choose Saxton to check your eligibility
This page is for homeowners 62 and older, and family members, who want to know where they stand before counseling.
Younger Spouses Are Allowed
A non-borrowing spouse does not have to be 62, but the amount available is based on the younger of the borrower and an eligible non-borrowing spouse.
Revocable Trusts Can Work
A living trust can hold the home if its primary beneficiaries are 62, complete counseling, live in the home and meet HUD’s other trust rules, such as not adding new beneficiaries. Our program does not accept irrevocable trusts.
Health Care Stays Count
A borrower temporarily in a health care facility still counts as living in the home if the stay does not exceed 12 consecutive months.
Past Bankruptcy Is Considered
In our program, a discharged bankruptcy does not by itself block a HECM on your current home or a HECM-to-HECM refinance, though a set-aside may be required.
Hardships Can Be Explained
Late payments caused by documented extenuating circumstances, such as lost income after the death or divorce of a spouse, can be taken into account.
Thin Credit Is Not Disqualifying
Having no traditional credit history, or choosing not to use credit, cannot be the reason a HECM application is denied.
Hear From Homeowners Like You
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers about who qualifies.
Saxton Mortgage does. At least one HECM program we offer is available to buy or refinance an owner-occupied primary residence, and it has no minimum credit score. You must complete counseling with a HUD-approved HECM counselor before the application is processed. Non-occupant co-borrowers and irrevocable trusts are not eligible, and the program is not offered in Massachusetts or North Carolina.
Every borrower must be at least 62 by the closing date, and there is no maximum age. A non-borrowing spouse can be younger than 62, but the amount available is then based on the age of the younger eligible non-borrowing spouse.
No. There is no minimum credit score for a HECM, and credit scores are not a criterion for evaluating one. The lender still pulls a credit report and reviews your payment history, and a lack of traditional credit cannot be the reason you are denied.
The lender gives you a list of counseling agencies that includes national and telephone options and at least five agencies in your state or area, with at least one local agency for face-to-face counseling. You contact one yourself to schedule. Everyone on title attends, including a non-borrowing spouse. The certificate is valid for 180 days. If the loan does not close, you cannot be charged for the credit report, preliminary title search or automated valuation ordered before counseling.
Documented extenuating circumstances, such as lost income after the death or divorce of a spouse, can be considered. If the history falls short and none can be documented, the lender must require at least a fully funded set-aside that pays taxes and insurance from the loan. If homeowners or flood insurance lapsed in the past 12 months, you must get coverage and prepay 12 months at or before closing.
A living trust can hold the home if its primary beneficiaries are 62 by closing, complete counseling, are eligible borrowers and live in the home, among other HUD trust rules. Our program does not accept a home held in an irrevocable trust. A borrower who holds only a life estate qualifies only if every remainder holder also signs the mortgage and attends counseling.
One- to four-unit homes where you live in one unit, including detached and semi-detached homes, townhouses, condos and PUDs. A condo must be in an FHA-approved project, be a site condo or have FHA single-unit approval. A manufactured home must be built on or after June 15, 1976, have at least 400 square feet and be designed as a dwelling with a permanent foundation. Co-ops, vacation homes and bed and breakfasts are not eligible.
Businesses, blind trusts, irrevocable trusts and non-occupant co-borrowers cannot be borrowers in our program. Non-permanent resident aliens are not eligible for FHA case numbers assigned on or after May 25, 2025. Anyone suspended or debarred from HUD programs is not eligible. If you have delinquent federal tax or non-tax debt, the loan is suspended until it is resolved.
Find out what you qualify for
Tell us about your home, who lives there and what you hope to do, and we will go over these requirements with you before you schedule counseling.
Get Pre-Qualified- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA and housing resources
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FHA mortgage insurance premiums
Loan amounts, rates, terms, and eligibility are subject to credit approval, asset and income verification, appraisal, and program guidelines. Program availability varies by state. Not all applicants will qualify. Saxton Mortgage, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender.