Hello Tom, There may be several reasons why free counseling is available and many times it is due to some agencies who have grant money available that is not reliant upon a borrower's income to receive the free counseling. Check around and ask the counselors if they have the free counseling available and if not, call another company. If you are not in a particularly big hurry, you never know what you may find.

Hello Roland, If your property is valued high enough to where the new lending limit would give you more money, you can always refinance your reverse mortgage but like any other refinance, you would need to do so at the current market rates and fees. Interest rates have risen sharply over the past year with the high inflation and when you add the current unrest in the world affairs, it has only increased the rates and fees of mortgage programs that much more over the recent past. Margins being offered today are higher than what you currently have and the index rises and falls with current interest rates (which by all accounts will continue to rise but then would also rise on your current loan as well). Low cost and no cost options are still available in some cases and the starting loan amount depending on the state in which you live and the costs normally associated with closing a loan there (i.e., documentary transfer tax stamps). You just need to check with your specific circumstances to see how you would fare but a word of caution, CNBC just posted an article that the Federal Reserve Officials expect to hike rates approximately six more times this year. If you are thinking about a refinance, my advice would be not to drag it on too long before making a decision.

Hello Amy,You don't need to do anything in order to use the free counseling when it's available. Unfortunately, we never know when counselors have it available and when they do, it is only there until it is gone. The only way to determine if there is any free counseling available to my knowledge is to check online or call around and ask when you are ready to receive your counseling and hope you find an agency that has grant money at the time.

Hello Kathleen, The counselors and or counseling agency set their own prices with a maximum set by HUD. There is also sometimes free counseling available if the agency has grant money available (funds given to the agency to pay the counseling costs for borrowers). The costs seem to be coming in around $125 at the present but you are free to check with various counselors to see if there are any quoting lower fees at any time.

Counseling certificates are issued by HUD approved agencies and are not lender specific. They are good at all lenders and there is no "transfer" required as the lender is not specified on the certificate in the first place (unlike the HUD Case Number which would need to be transferred to the new lender).

Good Morning,Reverse mortgage counseling companies are approved by HUD, but they are independently owned and operated. I would suggest that you contact them directly to ask them how you can secure a position with their company.HUD has a counselor locator available online on their website and I would suggest you check with a counseling agency in your area first. The HUD page can be found here: https://apps.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm.

Good Morning, Most companies will require your father to counsel again at this time. HUD does not always require counseling if the borrower has attended in the last 5 years, but many of the states do. HUD does require additional counseling if your dad meets certain thresholds though. Unfortunately, the lender may not know if dad will hit the required thresholds until the lender proceeds and has ordered and received the appraisal. Then the problem is that if they proceeded without the new counseling, the loan application would need to be cancelled and the lender would need to start all over with a new application and a new appraisal because HUD does not allow lenders to order any services on loans that require counseling until after that counseling has been completed. Lenders typically will not allow borrowers or themselves to take that chance just to avoid counseling since the risk is greater than the reward, even if the state does not have laws to restrict it.

Hello Eric, Rather than looking up all state laws to post which states have more specific counseling requirements, I would rather answer you with the industry response. HUD has not changed their counseling requirements which would allow a borrower to waive counseling if they had previously taken counseling and were refinancing that loan within 5 years and met certain requirements. However, some states have as well as lenders, investors and industry agencies like the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) which all seek to improve the security for borrowers have changed the counseling requirements. HUD sets the minimum that is required in all cases but also encourages lenders to always seek to protect the program and the borrowers. So although some states still allow lenders to follow the HUD guidelines that have not changed, most lenders and investors (investors are those who buy the loans in the secondary market) follow the NRMLA industry standards set to protect senior homeowners from those who would engage in equity stripping through constant refinancing. To this end, counseling is generally required by most lenders on every transaction at this time, whether the state requires it or not to be sure all borrowers are fully aware of the program changes. Furthermore, on a refinance transaction, there are several "tests" that the borrower must meet in order to be eligible for the loan. You must be able to receive at least 5 times the cost of the loan in new benefits and at least 10% in additional principal limit to meet the eligibility restrictions that NRMLA imposes on lender members to maintain an ethical standard and not be engaging in refinance churning. In addition, the loan must have been closed at least 18 months prior to the application for refinance. The changes became effective as a result of some originators zeal to push borrowers to refinance for relatively small rewards and soon after their past loans closed. So the bottom line is that you really would be required to have counseling for a refinance again in all instances unless you were located in a state that did not require it and you were able to find a lender that did not adhere to the NRMLA code of conduct for ethical lenders. I am afraid I could not tell you who might do that in your state. All Reverse Mortgage is a NRMLA member and as such, we do adhere to their professional, ethical standards.

Hi Pat,Neither loan accrues interest "annually". The interest is calculated and reported on a monthly basis. Reverse mortgage borrowers are never required to pay a monthly payment, but they can elect to at any time in any amount up to and including payment in full. For example. if the interest that accrued in a single month was $500 and no payment was made, the balance would increase by this amount and then the interest would accrue the next month at the higher balance. If you made a payment of $700, your interest would accrue the next month on a lower balance because your payment covered the interest that accrued and then paid down a portion of the outstanding balance. So, it really acts just the way any other loan would. If you don't make a payment which covers the interest that accrued that month, negative amortization occurs, and your balance rises. If you do make a payment that covers or exceeds the interest that accrued, the balance will stay the same or go down. The difference is that with a reverse mortgage, you never HAVE to make that monthly payment so it's completely up to you. Each month you will receive a statement from the loan servicer, so you always know where you stand and if you do decide to make payments or repay the loan early, there is never a prepayment penalty.

Hello Mary,Great question, I wish I had an equally great answer! The simple truth however is that reverse mortgage counselors are independent companies/individuals, approved by HUD. It's up to individuals and companies to apply for approval and continue to be certified and at this time, I see only 14 companies throughout all of CA on the HUD approved list.I do see that there is at least one just over the order in Medford, OR if that is closer for you. Unfortunately, states like Nevada have only one approved counselor in the entire state.And don't forget, counseling can also be done on the phone as well. You do not have to drive to the office of the counselor. This works well for many who are not within proximity to a counselor's office.

Hi Marvin, You can search our website above for a local counseling agency and you can sort by city, zip code or state. We recommend that you start with the state because there may not be any counselors available in your city or zip code. If I put in the state of PA, there are 7 agencies statewide that are on HUD's list that appear below. Not knowing where you are in the state though, there may be a closer agency just over a state line that may also work better for you. For example, PA is surrounded by 6 other states and you may be closer to a counselor in another state if you are located near the state line and so are, they. Remember, you can also complete your counseling on the phone if you prefer and in that case, all the calls are toll-free and it really doesn't matter where the counselor is located throughout the United States and so you should just find a counselor who can best accommodate your schedule and needs.