The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) has been the trade association for the reverse mortgage industry since 1997. Every member company operates under its Code of Ethics & Professional Responsibility, and the pledge on this page spells out what that code requires of a lender at every stage of your loan.

We have been a HUD-approved direct lender since 2004, and the pledge reads like a description of how we already ran the company. One detail worth knowing: NRMLA does not take a member’s word for any of this. The membership application requires a principal executive to review the Code of Ethics and this pledge and sign both before a company can join, and that signature binds everyone who works here. This page carries the pledge word for word, plus the six values and the specific rules standing behind it, and it ends with what happens to members who break them.

On this page: the pledge · the six values · the rules, in plain English · how the code is enforced · how we practice it

The NRMLA mission: The mission of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association is to educate you about reverse mortgages and to help you determine if one might be the right choice for you. We know your home is a prized possession of you and your family. We are sensitive to the fact that utilizing your home equity while you remain in the home is a major financial and emotional decision. All NRMLA members are required to abide by a Code of Ethics & Professional Responsibility in which we pledge to serve you with integrity. Your best interests are our primary consideration.

Prior to you getting a reverse mortgage, as a NRMLA member we will:

  • Know and comply with all State and Federal laws and regulations that protect reverse mortgage borrowers.
  • Present you with the full range of reverse mortgage products available from our company.
  • Clearly explain the terms, benefits and costs of each product we present.
  • Inform you of your responsibilities as a reverse mortgage borrower including paying real estate taxes on time, keeping the property properly insured and maintaining the home in sound condition.
  • Work with you and, if you request, with your family and financial advisors either face-to-face or on the telephone as frequently as you choose to educate you, answer any and all questions and help you assess whether a reverse mortgage might be beneficial to you.
  • Explain the benefits of and statutory requirement that you have reverse mortgage counseling.
  • Provide you with a list of HUD-approved independent housing counseling organizations that employ exam qualified counselors to serve you. The choice of the organization is yours and yours alone.
  • Help you prepare for your counseling session to make it most effective by providing you with questions you might ask and information you should be prepared to provide to the counselor.
  • Prepare loan comparison projections and an amortization table for the loan being proposed to review at your counseling session.
  • Not charge any fees prior to the completion of mandatory counseling.
  • Help you analyze your financial ability to meet your responsibilities under the reverse mortgage.
  • Recommend that you seek professional advice if you are receiving assistance from SSI, Medicaid or other government programs.
  • Recommend you seek professional tax advice when appropriate.
  • Allow you to decide when to close on the reverse mortgage loan and not pressure you to make a decision.
  • Provide you with opportunities during the loan process to change your mind and not take the loan.
  • Pay off the existing liens shown of record, verify taxes are paid, and make sure that you have proper insurance upon closing.

Once you have a reverse mortgage, a NRMLA member loan servicer will:

  • Notify you promptly if you have fallen behind in your tax and insurance obligations and direct you to seek advice in the event you are not able to fulfill your responsibilities.
  • Keep you informed of your current loan balance and of all costs by providing regular statements detailing your account.
  • Be available to answer any questions you may have about your account.

You can BORROW WITH CONFIDENCE from a NRMLA member.

The Code of Ethics behind the pledge

The pledge is the promise a member makes to you. The Code of Ethics & Professional Responsibility is the rulebook standing behind it, and members are held responsible under it for the actions of their officers, employees and agents. The full document, published on nrmlaonline.org, runs from a preamble through six values, twenty-five numbered rules and a formal complaint procedure. The parts that matter most to a borrower are below.

The six values, in the code’s own words

  • Fairness. Treat consumers “with respect and dignity, and in a manner that is fair, reasonable and as they would want to be treated.”
  • Confidentiality. “Respect, protect, preserve and safeguard” the privacy of everything learned from and about a borrower.
  • Integrity. Follow “the letter and spirit” of the code, which includes telling consumers about potential conflicts of interest on a timely basis.
  • Competence. Keep the knowledge, skills and experience the work requires, and refer consumers to someone who has them whenever a member does not.
  • Diligence. Serve consumers “promptly, thoughtfully” and with due care, in full compliance with every applicable legal and regulatory requirement.
  • Professionalism. Conduct that “shall reflect positively on NRMLA, the profession and the industry.”

The rules that protect you most, in plain English

These are our summaries, with the rule numbers so you can check them against the official text.

  • Honest numbers (Rules 101, 102 and 301). Costs, fees and the member’s own compensation must be described accurately and on time, and benefits may never be presented without the costs. Estimates have to be labeled as estimates and built on reasonable assumptions.
  • Honest advertising (Rules 104 and 105). No false, misleading or deceptive communications, and no implying an endorsement from HUD, FHA, AARP or anyone else who never agreed to it. Dishonesty, fraud and misrepresentation violate the code outright.
  • No tying (Rule 302). A member cannot require you to buy anything else, an annuity, an insurance policy, any product at all, to get your reverse mortgage. This rule exists for a reason. Pressuring borrowers to put loan proceeds into annuities was the industry’s ugliest chapter, and federal law now bans the practice too.
  • Your money comes to you (Rule 303). Loan proceeds are disbursed directly to the borrower, not to a salesperson or a third party, apart from normal closing items like paying off your existing mortgage or funding a set-aside.
  • Conflicts get disclosed (Rule 304). Any material conflict of interest must be described to you before the member provides services, so you and your family can decide with the full picture.
  • Privacy (Rule 201). Member companies must train their staff and keep procedures in place to protect the confidentiality of your information.
  • Fair lending (Rule 106). Products must be offered to every consumer who qualifies for them, in compliance with fair housing and fair lending laws.
  • Family in the room (Rule 108). Members are expected to encourage review of the transaction by your family and trusted advisors, and to cooperate when you bring them in.
  • Real qualifications (Rules 401, 402, 501 and 607). Staff must be competent and background-checked, must work to understand your needs and objectives before proposing anything, and must send you to a qualified professional for legal, tax or investment advice rather than playing one.
  • Complaints get answered (Rule 109). Members must make a good-faith effort to resolve concerns raised by consumers.

What happens to members who break it

A pledge without enforcement is decoration, so it matters that this one has a formal complaint procedure attached. Complaints, including complaints from consumers, go to NRMLA’s president and can be referred to the association’s Ethics and Standards Committee. The member ordinarily gets ten business days to answer in writing, and a material fact left undenied is treated as admitted. If the committee finds a violation, it can place the member on probation, suspend its membership, or withdraw membership for at least three years. The full procedure is Appendix A of the code on nrmlaonline.org.

If you ever believe we have fallen short of anything on this page, call us first at (800) 565-1722 and give us the chance Rule 109 requires us to take. If we cannot make it right, the association is your next call.

What the pledge looks like when you call us

Counseling comes before any fee. You will not pay us anything until your mandatory HUD counseling is complete, and you pick the counseling agency yourself from HUD’s independent list. We hand you the list; the choice never touches our desk.

You walk into counseling prepared. Every proposal we send includes side-by-side loan comparisons and a full amortization table, so your counselor can check our math line by line.

Family and advisors are welcome on every call. If you want your children or your financial advisor on the line, we schedule around them and answer their questions the same as yours. Rule 108 asks members to cooperate with that review; we invite it.

The closing date is yours to set. The pledge requires that we never pressure you, and we take that literally. You decide when to close, or whether to close at all, and you can change your mind at any point in the process.

Run your numbers with the ARLO™ reverse mortgage calculator or call us at (800) 565-1722 with the hard questions. No fees before counseling, no pressure at any point after it.