HECM Resources

The Reverse Mortgage Education Project

The AARP Foundation created the Reverse Mortgage Education Project (AARP-RMEP) to provide independent information to consumers about reverse mortgages and other, less costly, alternatives.  As a means to ensure the availability of good consumer information, the AARP-RMEP also became very involved in the effort to develop a network of highly-trained reverse mortgage counselors, working in partnership with HUD and NeighborWorks America.  In 2009, the AARP Foundation elected to focus its efforts on consumer education and transitioned its counselor education and support roles to NeighborWorks America.

At present, the RMEP is under the auspices of the NeighborWorks® Center for Homeownership Education and Counseling (NCHEC), with support from HUD, and continues to provide an array of services to support and train reverse mortgage counselors.

The support services provided to the HUD National HECM Counseling Network and HUD by the NW-RMEP include the following:    

1)  HECM Counselor Training  

a.    Basic HECM counselor training via on-site sessions as part of NeighborWorks Training Institutes and Place-Based Trainings.

b.    Continuing education and advanced training for HECM counselors via higher level classes, distance learning approaches, and national or regional conferences for network counselors.

2)  HECM Counselor Exam  

a.    NW-RMEP works with HUD to maintain and administer a HUD-approved national HECM counselor exam, which now represents the standard of competence for all HECM counselors nationwide.

b.    NW-RMEP analyzes the exam's results, and uses the analyses to improve the exam.


3)  Model Loan Analysis Software

a.    The AARP-RMEP developed and achieved consensus among industry and consumer interests on technical specifications for model reverse mortgage analysis and comparison software.  With backing from HUD, the AARP-RMEP contracted with a software development firm to create counselor-specific, web-based, loan calculation software that is now available to all exam-qualified counselors.

b.    NW-RMEP continues to update and revise the specifications as new issues arise.

c.     NW-RMEP coordinates software access, training, and support for HECM counselors.


4)  HECM Counselor Support & Development - NW-RMEP provides

a.    expert back-up support and technical assistance for network members
b.    an on-line library of HECM and related resources, including a state-specific database of alternatives to HECM loans

c.     updates on the HECM program, market developments, and network news via a password-protected RMEP website for counselors

d.    intra-network bulletin boards on selected topics


5)  HECM Counseling Evaluation

a.    AARP-RMEP began and NW-RMEP continues to develop means of sampling and evaluating counselor performance to ensure that network counselors provide high-quality counseling that meets all HUD requirements.