Reverse mortgage counseling is a required meeting with an independent, HUD-approved counselor, and you have to finish it before any lender can take a full application for a HECM (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage). The counselor works for a housing counseling agency, has no stake in whether you take the loan, and is required to walk you through how it works, what it costs, and the options you have besides a HECM. You leave with a signed certificate the lender needs before anything else happens.
Who can attend reverse mortgage counseling?
HUD's Certificate of HECM Counseling (form HUD-92902) lists who can be counseled: the prospective borrower, a non-borrowing spouse, any non-borrowing owner on title, an agent or guardian, and a child or sibling of the borrower. If your husband or wife will not be on the loan, the counselor has to explain whether they qualify as an eligible non-borrowing spouse and, if so, that they must keep living in the home as their principal residence and keep paying the property charges and upkeep for the protection to hold. An adult child who helps with your finances can sit in and hear the same explanation you do.
What the counselor has to cover
The topics are set by Section 255(f) of the National Housing Act and 24 CFR 206.41, and the counselor signs the certificate attesting that each one was discussed in detail:
- Options other than a HECM, including other housing, social services, health, and financial options.
- Other ways to turn home equity into cash, which the certificate names: other reverse mortgages, a HECM for Purchase, sale-leaseback financing, deferred payment loans, and property tax deferral.
- The financial implications of taking a HECM.
- A disclosure that a HECM may have tax consequences, may affect eligibility for federal and state assistance programs, and will affect your estate and heirs.
- Whether you have signed with an estate planning service firm that charges a fee, and whether those services are available at little or no cost elsewhere.
- When the loan becomes due and payable, such as when no remaining borrower lives in the home.
The counselor also has to fit the session to your own finances, so the more you share about your situation, the more useful the session is.
How to find a counselor, and what it costs
You pick the agency yourself. HUD keeps a line for finding one at 800-569-4287, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has a "Find a Housing Counselor" search on its website. Many agencies counsel by phone or video, so you are not limited to an office near you.
On cost, the CFPB is specific: HUD-approved agencies may charge a reasonable fee, they must explain every charge before the session, and they cannot charge you if you cannot afford it. HUD's own paperwork estimate for the whole thing, session and form included, is about two hours.
Questions worth bringing
The CFPB suggests going in ready to talk about your financial needs and goals, your spouse's or partner's future housing needs, what led you to consider a reverse mortgage, and the alternatives you have already looked at. Its list of questions to ask includes:
- How is a reverse mortgage different from a traditional mortgage?
- What are the upfront costs and fees, and what will the ongoing costs be?
- How will the loan affect my spouse or anyone else living with me?
- What happens if I want to sell the home later?
- What happens to my home when I pass away, or if I have to move to a nursing home?
Have your property tax bill, homeowners insurance cost, and any existing mortgage balance in front of you. Those numbers drive the conversation about ongoing obligations, and you will need them again for the lender's financial assessment.
What California adds
Two state rules sit on top of the federal requirement. Under Civil Code § 1923.5, the lender has to give you a checklist titled "Reverse Mortgage Worksheet Guide: Is a Reverse Mortgage Right for Me?" before you meet with the counseling agency (or the agency provides it, if you go to counseling before asking a lender for an application). You sign it, the counselor signs it too if the session was in person, and it goes back to the lender with your counseling certificate. The loan cannot be approved until the lender has it.
Then Civil Code § 1923.2 adds a waiting period: a lender cannot accept your final application or charge you any fee until seven days have passed since counseling. Use those seven days to reread the worksheet and talk it over with family.
The California alternative that doesn't mix with a reverse mortgage
"Property tax deferral" is one of the alternatives the counselor must raise. California's version is the State Controller's Property Tax Postponement program. It lets a homeowner who is 62 or older, blind, or disabled defer current-year property taxes on their principal residence if household income is $57,002 or less and they have at least 40 percent equity. The state places a lien on the home, and the postponed taxes must eventually be repaid. For the 2026-27 year, the filing period opens October 1, 2026 and closes February 10, 2027, and you re-apply every year.
The two programs do not stack. The State Controller's FAQ says a homeowner with an existing reverse mortgage is not eligible, and if a current participant takes out a reverse mortgage, the postponed taxes plus accrued interest become due. If property taxes are the main strain, ask the counselor to compare the two before you choose; the Controller's office answers questions at (800) 952-5661.
An Orange County number to know before the session
In 2026, HUD's maximum claim amount for a HECM is $1,249,125 (Mortgagee Letter 2025-22). Orange County's 2026 conforming loan limit set by FHFA is the same $1,249,125. That figure caps the home value HUD's formula can use; nobody receives it as a payout. For many Orange County homes the value runs past that line, and the HECM formula ignores everything above it. That is why "other reverse mortgages" is on the counselor's required list: a privately offered (proprietary) reverse mortgage is built for higher-value homes and follows its own rules, which the counselor can help you compare against a HECM.
After counseling
The certificate expires 180 days after the session, so the rest of the process has to move within that window or you counsel again. In California you then wait the seven days, apply, and go through the lender's financial assessment, which is covered in how to qualify for a reverse mortgage. The fee side is in what a reverse mortgage costs, and the state-specific steps are in how a reverse mortgage works in California.
At Choice Home Mortgage, owner Esther Buede is happy to talk with you before or after your counseling session. She can go over what the counselor raised using your own numbers, including the property tax postponement question and where your home's value sits against the $1,249,125 ceiling. See the full reverse mortgage page, or call (949) 522-7310.