A common scenario: a household of one asks whether a reverse mortgage for a single homeowner can close without a spouse on the note. Yes. Jay Zayer, CRMP, is a reverse mortgage specialist at reversemortgage.coach. 24 CFR 206.33 requires every borrower to be 62. It does not require a second signer. Occupancy, counseling, title, and residual income still apply.
A 70-year-old named Anya in Modesto is the one-name widow pattern: the house is hers, the note can be hers, and the children want to know what happens later. A Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) is FHA-insured. It is not a government benefit that needs a married couple. Single on the note is ordinary. Single on the grant deed is a different title map.
This page is the solo-signer mechanics: no spouse required, one-borrower age lookup, and what to put in writing for heirs. The sibling single-homeowner page is the incapacity-and-POA walkthrough. Stay here for the alone-on-the-note rules.
Does HUD require a spouse or co-borrower on the HECM note?
No. 24 CFR 206.33 is an age-and-borrower rule. Every person who sits on the note must be 62 at closing. HUD does not require a husband, a wife, or a co-borrower. Widowed, divorced, or never married does not change that test. It changes who answers the servicer if you cannot.
Walk the one-name file in this order.
- Confirm you are 62, you occupy the house as a principal residence (24 CFR 206.39), and you have authority on title.
- Confirm who else is on the grant deed. Single on the note is not the same as single on title. A former spouse still on title may have to sign. 24 CFR 206.35 still reaches non-borrowing owners.
- Run capacity on the calculator using your age only. I do not publish a live principal-limit percentage. One name on the note still uses HUD’s mid-30s to low-50s percent of appraised value, depending on age and expected rate — the lookup is the youngest (only) borrower.
- Complete HUD-approved counseling. A solo signer still pays $125–$175 for counseling and still has a 180-day certificate, same as a couple file. A never-married California owner still waits seven days under Civil Code 1923.2(k) after counseling.
- Write the heir and incapacity pieces before anyone books an appraisal. See how heirs keep the home. Read About if you want the boutique process before you start.
HUD does not require a spouse or co-borrower on the HECM note; a qualifying single owner can close alone.
A one-name HECM still pays 2.00% of maximum claim amount as initial MIP (Mortgagee Letter 2017-12); being single is not an MIP exemption. A one-name file still faces the 24 CFR 206.31 origination cap of $6,000. The 2026 claim-amount cap is $1,249,125 (Mortgagee Letter 2025-22). Single-borrower examples on this page assume 7.000% expected rate as of 22 September 2026.
Community-property title in California can still require a former spouse’s signature if that person remains on title. Arizona title has its own map. Do not treat “I live alone” as “the deed is clean.”
If you later marry, the new spouse is not added to the old note. Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse status is named at origination under 24 CFR 206.55. A later marriage is a new-loan or title conversation, not a servicing add-on.
How does a one-borrower age lookup change the principal limit?
HUD keys Mortgagee Letter 2017-12 tables to the youngest borrower and the expected rate. On a one-name file, that youngest borrower is you. A single 70-year-old is priced as age 70. A single 63-year-old is priced as age 63. You do not get a couple bonus. You also do not get a couple haircut.
Adding a younger co-borrower, if one later existed and a new loan were originated, would lower the factor. That is the trade for two occupancy lives. It is not a reason to park an adult child on the note. 24 CFR 206.33 bars a child under 62 from sitting on the HECM note as a borrower. Adding a child to title without making them a borrower creates a non-borrowing owner who must still execute the mortgage under 24 CFR 206.35.
HUD does not interpolate. At a given expected-rate column, ages 70 and 71 can share a cell. Waiting from 70 to 71 expecting a larger factor is how solo files stall for a year that does not pay.
A one-borrower refinance with a complete file still averages about 30 days in Jay’s pipeline. That average is not a promise. A one-name adjustable HECM still accrues at 1-month CMT plus the lender’s margin. A single borrower still pays annual MIP of 0.50% of outstanding balance on every dollar drawn.
What can go wrong: the sole borrower dies, title is still in that individual’s name, California probate has not issued letters, and the 24 CFR 206.125 clock is already running on the heirs. A living trust does not raise leftover equity. It can speed who has authority.
A follow-up: should an unmarried owner keep an adult child off title so the principal-limit factor stays based on one age? HUD already uses the youngest borrower. A child is not a borrower. Title games do not raise your cell.
What should a solo signer put in writing for heirs before closing?
Write that heirs who want to keep the house repay the outstanding HECM balance under 24 CFR 206.125(a)(2)(i). That keep number is not 95% of value. Heirs of a single borrower who sell can use the 95% sale-path floor after maturity; heirs who keep the house repay the balance. Write who the trusted contact is. Write who holds a durable power of attorney that covers real property. Send a copy to the servicer after closing.
A second geography: a never-married 63-year-old in Tempe. That file is a one-name HECM at the 63-year-old’s factor if occupancy and residual income hold. The heirs conversation is the same 206.125(a)(2)(i) rule. The incapacity conversation is more urgent because there is no spouse in the house to catch the annual occupancy letter.
Proprietary programs — HomeSafe, Longbridge Platinum, Finance of America, Mutual of Omaha Secure Equity — can write a one-name private note. They are not FHA-insured. Ask whether the private heir clause matches 24 CFR 206.125(a)(2)(i) or says something weaker.
A Life Expectancy Set-Aside, if required, is still origination-only. Being single does not waive residual income. Being single does not waive 24 CFR 206.39 occupancy. A health-care stay longer than twelve consecutive months can make the loan due when you are the only borrower (24 CFR 206.27(c)(2)(ii)).
This product does not help an adult child who wants a one-name HECM on a parent’s house while the parent will live in the child’s spare room. Occupancy is the parent’s. It does not help someone whose residual income fails even with a LESA and whose tax history is already in default. Boutique work includes saying sell or fix the charges.
Who I turn away: a solo file whose only purpose is “so the children have options.” Options for you are occupancy and cash. Options for the children are a smaller leftover. I will not originate a decorative line for an heir’s convenience.