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The free tool below runs entirely in this browser — no account, nothing stored or transmitted. Redact anything you would not want kept before you type it.
Open the companion tool →Why required documents are the strongest signal
Products that touch a home are regulated, and regulation produces paperwork: disclosures, a right to cancel, counseling requirements, and written terms. A legitimate offer comes with those documents; a pitch that arrives without them is telling you which category it belongs to.
Counseling requirements exist for a reason: an independent counselor is the one person in the process who is not paid when you sign. For anyone considering a reverse mortgage in the US, the required counseling is not a formality to be skipped.
The protocol
- Ask for everything in writing before any conversation about signing: the loan or product terms, the fee schedule, and the cancellation rights.
- Check the counseling requirement for the product in your state, and take the offer to an independent counselor or a HUD-approved housing counseling agency.
- Compare the total cost over the years you expect to hold the product, not the monthly figure you were shown.
- Ask what happens to the home if you move into care, if a spouse dies, or if you want to sell — the answers decide more than the headline rate.
- Never sign anything the same day it is presented, and never sign a document you have not read in full. Ask for a copy of everything you have signed, and keep it.
What the tool does
Describe the offer and get a disclosure reading: which documents should exist, what to ask a counselor, and what to compare before signing anything. It gives no product advice and stores nothing.
Limit first: This is a document-review aid, not financial or legal advice, and it does not endorse or reject any product. Rules differ by state and country — an independent counselor is the right check.
Open the companion tool →One human next step
Before signing anything, talk to an independent counselor — in the US, a HUD-approved housing counseling agency can review the offer at no cost — and bring the documents to a family member or an attorney. Nothing about a legitimate offer requires deciding today.
Research log and safety checks
AI-assist path: not used for a verdict. The reading is a document checklist against regulatory requirements that a counselor will confirm independently; the artifact stays a set of questions rather than a recommendation. §6.10: not a frontier-pace topic.
§0.5 protection result: category is elder-protection; crisis-adjacent: no; fear/urgency/scarcity toolkit used: no. The protective function is free and the paid feature is convenience only.