Best Reverse Mortgage Lenders of April 2026

A reverse mortgage allows people aged 55 and older to access cash from the equity they’ve built up in their homes. Unlike home equity loans or HELOCs, there’s usually no credit score requirement and payments are not due until you sell the house, stop using it as your primary residence or die.

That makes reverse mortgages, also known as home equity conversion mortgages (HECMs), an appealing prospect to homeowners with limited cash flow or bad credit. But there are unusual requirements, including owning at least 50% of your home outright and being at least 62 years old.

Reverse mortgages also have unique risks: The loan is due all at once, or you or your heirs will face foreclosure. And it may come due if you don’t stay current on insurance, property taxes or maintenance.

CNBC Select has picked the best lenders for reverse mortgages for lower rates, customer service and several other categories. (See our methodology for more on how we made our selections.)

Who’s this for? Longbridge Financial has lower rates than many competitors and doesn’t charge a service fee, which can be as much as $35 a month.

Standout benefits: If you’re an active duty service member or veteran, you could earn a $500 discount on closing costs with Longbridge.

Who’s this for? Guild is one of the top-ranked mortgage lenders for customer satisfaction on J.D. Power’s 2025 mortgage servicing survey. It’s also earned an A+ from the Better Business Bureau.

Standout benefits: In addition to HECMs and jumbo reverse mortgages, Guild offers reverse mortgage refinancing.

Who’s this for? Mutual of Omaha has dozens of branches nationwide and offers reverse mortgages in all states except New York and West Virginia.

Standout benefits: Mutual of Omaha doesn’t charge service fees on HECMs.

Who’s this for? Fairway claims it can close on a reverse mortgage in as little as 17 days, compared to one or two months with most lenders.

Standout benefits: Fairway also offers a HECM for Purchase, a reverse mortgage used to buy a new principal residence.

Who’s this for? Liberty Reverse Mortgage doesn’t charge an upfront lender fee at closing. Instead, those costs are rolled into the mortgage itself, which can be helpful if ponying up an origination fee and other closing costs all at once would strain your finances.

Standout benefits: Liberty’s online platform includes a reverse mortgage calculator, a map showing where it lends, and a blog with tips on choosing the right lender and some honest discussion of the pros and cons of the reverse mortgage process.

Who’s this for? In addition to FHA-backed HECMs, Finance of America offers HomeSafe Standard, a jumbo reverse mortgage for up to $4 million, available to borrowers age 55 and older. There’s also HomeSafe Second, a second-lien mortgage for up to $1 million that leaves your primary mortgage intact.

Standout benefits: HomeSafe Standard doesn’t require mortgage insurance premiums or origination fees on reverse mortgages.

A reverse mortgage is a home loan that allows homeowners to borrow against their home equity. In many ways, it operates like a cash-out refinance: Your lender covers the outstanding balance on your mortgage and gives you the additional money — as a lump sum, fixed monthly payments or a line of credit. 

Unlike a refinance, however, you don’t make monthly payments. Instead, the principal and interest are due when the last surviving borrower or their eligible spouse sells, moves or dies. Typically, homeowners must have at least 50% home equity to qualify for a reverse mortgage, and the property must be their primary residence.

The most common type of reverse mortgage, the home equity conversion mortgage (HECM), is backed by the FHA. It’s limited to homeowners 62 and older and, in 2026, financing is capped at $1,249,125.

Private lenders also offer proprietary reverse mortgages that bypass the FHA’s age and loan limits. These jumbo reverse mortgages are often available to borrowers aged 55 and older and may be for as much as $4 million.

Regardless of who backs the loan, you must continue to pay property taxes and insurance and keep the home in good physical condition — otherwise, you risk the loan coming due early.

With a home equity loan, a lender provides a lump sum loan equal to a percentage of the value of the home. The loan is usually paid back over five to 30 years, and borrowers typically need at least a 620 credit score, a debt-to-income ratio of no more than 43% and 20% home equity.

HELOC

A home equity line of credit (HELOC) has a draw period, usually 10 years, during which you only need to make interest payments and can make multiple withdrawals. After that, borrowers must begin repayment on the principal and interest, usually over a term of 20 to 30 years. You usually need at least a 620 credit score, a debt-to-income ratio of 43% and at least 20% home equity.

Home equity sharing

In a home equity sharing agreement, an investor provides a homeowner with cash in exchange for a portion of their home’s future value. Repayment and a portion of the home’s accrued value are due after a set term or when the home is sold. You can qualify with a credit score as low as 500, but you’ll need at least 25% equity.

Cash-out refinancing

With a cash-out refinance mortgage, a lender gives you a new mortgage for more than the balance of your current one. After the mortgage is paid off, the remaining funds go to the borrower, who repays the new loan over a 10- to 30-year term. Most lenders want to see a 620 credit score, a DTI of 43% or less and at least 20% home equity, though some have more flexible requirements.

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Correction: A previous version of this article referred to Finance of America‘s Equity Avail hybrid mortgage, which is no longer available.