Reverse mortgages are aimed at senior citizens who would like some spendable income to meet their financial needs and who own sufficient equity in their homes. Reverse mortgages are usually a tough sell. Elderly home owners have a fear of losing their right to continue their living in the same home. This was a fear well-founded because some early reverse mortgages had the provision that home owners could be forced out of their homes, under certain circumstances, by the lender. But in 1989, Congress created a new type of reverse mortgage known as the HECM or home equity conversion mortgage . This completely protects the home owner as long as he or she continues to pay the property taxes regularly on schedule, maintains the home or property and doesn’t change names on the deed, the home owner can remain in the house forever. If the lender fails, any remaining payment obligation is assumed by the FHA (Federal Housing Administration). The HECM program , though slow to catch on, has been growing rapidly in recent years. The year 2009 saw about 130,000 HECMs being taken by home owning senior citizens in America. Feedback from seniors who have taken such HECMs has been largely positive.

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