A financial instrument available to senior citizens that generates a lump sum payment or income stream that is secured by a mortgage lien. A reverse mortgage is available to individuals who:

With a reverse mortgage, the borrower's total debt increases as the lender pays monies to the borrower. Term reverse mortgage loans are loans for which there is a fixed re-payment date. Tenure reverse mortgage loans allow the borrower to remain in occupancy until the occurrence of a contingency, such as:

A reverse mortgage can either be:

Privately sponsored reverse mortgages typically allow higher borrowing amounts and have lower costs than HECMs. However, the federally insured HECMs typically offer lower interest rates and are more prevalent.