Who Do I Contact About My Existing Reverse Mortgage?
Start with your servicer, the company that manages your reverse mortgage day to day. It handles your payments or draws, your statements, the yearly occupancy certification, and questions about taxes, insurance or repairs. A HUD-approved reverse mortgage counselor can help you weigh your options, and if a problem isn't resolved, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB.
Last updated November 3, 2026Your servicer handles the account
The CFPB describes the servicer as the company that runs the loan day to day: it makes monthly payments to you or processes draws from your line of credit, sends statements, answers your questions, sends and collects the yearly occupancy certification, and tracks principal and interest. It's often a different company from the lender that made the loan. Look for its name on your statements or on the occupancy certification it mails you.
Call your servicer about:
- a payment or a draw from your line of credit,
- your balance or a statement,
- the yearly occupancy certification,
- property taxes, homeowners insurance or repairs the loan requires, and
- selling the home or paying off the loan.
Ask for anything important in writing, and keep copies.
If you're behind on taxes or insurance, or get a default notice
Act quickly. The loan requires you to keep paying property taxes and homeowners insurance, keep the home in good repair, and live there as your principal residence, and falling behind on any of them can lead to foreclosure.
- Taxes or insurance: if you can pay, do it right away, and ask where the payment goes, since it may go to the servicer or straight to the tax office or insurer. If you can't, see a HUD-approved reverse mortgage counselor or an attorney right away. State and local programs may help; your Area Agency on Aging can tell you about them. Call the Eldercare Locator at (800) 677-1116 to find yours.
- Repairs: ask your servicer for the list of required repairs in writing, and get estimates from several contractors. If you can't afford them, your Area Agency on Aging can tell you about repair help for older homeowners.
- The yearly occupancy certification: if you didn't get it or didn't send it back, call your servicer and ask what it needs to confirm you still live in the home.
A HUD-approved counselor
A HUD-approved reverse mortgage counselor can help you find the best option for your situation, and the CFPB says to see one right away if you can't afford your taxes or insurance. You can search HUD's counselor roster or call (800) 569-4287.
If a problem isn't resolved
You can submit a complaint about a reverse mortgage to the CFPB online at consumerfinance.gov/complaint, or by phone at (855) 411-2372 (TTY/TDD (855) 729-2372).
What another lender can and can't do
Another lender can offer you a new loan. It can't take over or fix your current account.
- It can refinance your reverse mortgage into a new HECM on the same home, which is a new application with its own financial assessment and counseling, unless counseling is waived. If one lender says no, another can review it. See refinancing a reverse mortgage.
- It can pay off your reverse mortgage with a traditional mortgage, and then you'd make monthly payments on the new loan. Selling the home also pays it off.
- It may offer a home equity loan or HELOC behind your reverse mortgage. The HECM rules allow later financing once the reverse mortgage is in place, as long as the new loan sits behind it, but not a loan taken out to close the reverse mortgage itself. Not every lender offers this, so ask.
- It can't see or change your current account. Payments, draws, taxes, insurance and occupancy stay with your servicer.
If the borrower has died
Family members and heirs work with the servicer too. See what happens to a reverse mortgage when you die or move.
Where FreeRateUpdate fits
FreeRateUpdate is a licensed mortgage broker that connects people with participating lenders and brokers. FreeRateUpdate does not take loan applications, negotiate loan terms, make credit decisions, or fund or service loans, so your servicer is the right first call for anything about your current reverse mortgage.
Most of this applies to Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), the most common reverse mortgage. A proprietary reverse mortgage follows its own loan terms, and its servicer is still the first call.
| A payment, draw, balance or statement | Your servicer |
|---|---|
| The yearly occupancy certification | Your servicer |
| Taxes, insurance or repairs the loan requires | Your servicer, and a HUD-approved counselor if you're behind |
| A default or foreclosure notice | A HUD-approved counselor or an attorney, right away |
| Help paying property charges or repairs | Your Area Agency on Aging, through the Eldercare Locator at (800) 677-1116 |
| A problem that isn't resolved | The CFPB, at consumerfinance.gov/complaint or (855) 411-2372 |
| Refinancing or paying off the loan | A reverse mortgage lender, or a traditional mortgage lender for a payoff |
Related questions
- Can You Refinance a Reverse Mortgage
- Can I still pull equity out of my home if I already have a reverse mortgage, even if my current reverse-mortgage lender won't help
- What Happens to a Reverse Mortgage When You Die or Move
- How Does a Reverse Mortgage Work
- What Does FreeRateUpdate Do, and What Doesn't It Do
Sources
- https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/reverse-mortgages/answers/key-terms/
- https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-should-i-do-if-i-have-a-reverse-mortgage-and-i-cant-pay-my-property-taxes-or-insurance-en-1509/
- https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-should-i-do-if-i-have-a-reverse-mortgage-and-i-received-a-notice-that-i-am-delinquent-in-default-or-behind-on-my-property-taxes-and-insurance-en-1511/
- https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/reverse-mortgages/
- https://www.hud.gov/sites/default/files/Housing/documents/40001-hsgh-Update-18.pdf
- https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/09-49ml.pdf
- https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-B/chapter-II/subchapter-B/part-206
Sourced from licensed loan officers and brokers in the FreeRateUpdate network.
Educational information only, not individualized financial or legal advice. Program details and rates change; verify current terms with a licensed loan officer before making a decision.