After a HECM closes, a servicer administers the loan. That company sends statements, honors line-of-credit draws, tracks occupancy, and may pay property charges from your money if you do not (24 CFR 206.205). It is often not the originator you sat with at application. Jay Zayer, a Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional (CRMP) licensed in California and Arizona, tells homeowners to treat the welcome letter as the new address book, because draws do not run through the CRMP’s office.
24 CFR 206.201 says servicing of insured mortgages must be performed by an FHA-approved mortgagee, and the originating mortgagee remains responsible to HUD even when a subservicer does the daily work.
Who is the servicer after closing, and why is it not the originator?
Many HECM originators broker or correspond the loan. After funding, a national subservicer takes statements, IRS Form 1098 in years you pay interest, and occupancy certifications. 24 CFR 206.201(c)(2) requires both the transferor and the transferee to notify you at least 15 days before the transfer, using the content in 12 CFR 1024.33(b)(4). HUD also gets notice within 15 days.
Change the mortgagee clause on your homeowners insurance when that letter arrives. A claim paid to the old originator is how files stall. Do not cancel coverage in the gap.
California and Arizona licensing still apply to who originated. They do not let you insist that the originator process a draw that the note assigns to the servicer.
If you need a current payoff for a sale or a refinance, request it from the servicer, not from memory of the closing disclosure. Accrual has already changed the number. See how interest is calculated.
What can the servicer require you to do each year?
Annual occupancy certification is the one families miss. Mortgagee Letter 2023-23 requires the mortgagee to obtain a certification that the HECM property remains the borrower’s (and any Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse’s) principal residence. The certification may be hard copy, electronic, or verbal. See annual occupancy certification.
Property-tax and insurance proof still matter when a LESA was not funded. The servicer can pay those charges from your funds or take servicing action under 24 CFR 206.205. A LESA cannot be created after closing to fix a later tax problem.
Line-of-credit draws, tenure payments, and plan-change requests, when HUD allows them, also run through servicing. First-year disbursement caps in 24 CFR 206.25 still limit how much can go out in year one even after the servicer is on the file.
How do you escalate if statements or draws go wrong?
Start with the servicer’s written complaint process. Keep confirmation numbers. If the transfer notice was late, 12 CFR 1024.33 is the RESPA servicing-transfer rule sitting next to 24 CFR 206.201. CFPB complaint intake is a consumer path after you have a paper trail. HUD’s National Servicing Center is the FHA path for insured HECMs when the mortgagee is not complying with servicing regulations.
Do not stop paying property charges while you argue about a statement. Charge default is a separate 24 CFR 206.27 event.
For what you still owe while the servicer watches the file, see ongoing borrower obligations. For contacting that company with a payoff or a hardship, see contact the reverse mortgage servicer if you need the mechanics of the call itself.
What can go wrong when the company name on the letter is not the originator?
24 CFR 206.201 lets the mortgagee transfer servicing. 12 CFR 1024.33 is the RESPA notice rule for that transfer. Draws, occupancy certifications, and tax letters then go to the new company. Sending a draw request to the originator after transfer is how money “disappears” for a week.
This relationship does not help a household that wants the loan officer to keep administering the HECM. Origination ends. Servicing begins. Jay will say that at closing so the first welcome letter is not a shock. It does not help someone who stops paying the HOA while they argue about a statement. Charge default is a separate 24 CFR 206.205 path.
Escalate with confirmation numbers, then CFPB intake, then HUD’s National Servicing Center for an insured HECM when the mortgagee is not following servicing rules. Keep paying property charges while you argue.