Moving Out of a Reverse Mortgage Home With No Co-Borrower

What are my options if other people are living in my home when I have to move out and there is no co-borrower on my reverse mortgage? The short version: the loan generally becomes due, and the people in the home must either pay it back, buy time under a narrow exception, or move when the home is sold.

This article explains the occupancy rules for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), the most common type of reverse mortgage, based on guidance published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It is written for Colorado borrowers and their families who are facing a move into care, a move in with family, or any other permanent change of residence.

The short answer: without a co-borrower, the reverse mortgage comes due

A reverse mortgage typically must be repaid either when you move out of the home or when you die. That rule sits at the center of every option discussed below.

If your spouse, partner, adult child, or anyone else living with you is not a co-borrower on the loan, and you move someplace else for the majority of the year, the reverse mortgage loan will need to be paid back.

The most common way a reverse mortgage is paid back is by selling the home. In that case, the people living with you will have to move, unless they are able to pay back the loan themselves or qualify under the Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse rules.

Here is how the timelines break down under HECM rules before we go deeper:

How long you are away	What the HECM rules say
More than two months, less than six months (no co-borrower in the home)	Notify the lender or servicer so they know you still occupy the home as your principal residence
More than six months for non-medical reasons (no co-borrower)	The home is no longer your principal residence; the loan must be repaid or satisfied through sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure
More than 12 consecutive months in a healthcare facility (no co-borrower)	The home is no longer your principal residence; the loan must be repaid unless someone in the home qualifies as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse

Next, let’s confirm who this situation actually applies to, because the co-borrower question changes everything.

Who this applies to

Borrowers with a HECM and no co-borrower

Everything in this article applies to Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, which are the most common type of reverse mortgage loan. If you have a different loan type, the terms in your loan documents govern, and you should review them with your lender or an attorney.

The key fact is whose name is on the loan as a borrower. A co-borrower on the reverse mortgage has standing to stay in the home; a spouse, partner, or family member who is not a co-borrower does not have that same protection.

Common household situations

This comes up constantly in real life: a surviving spouse who was never added to the loan, an adult child who moved in to help, a sibling sharing the house, or a partner who joined the household after the loan closed.

In Colorado Springs, we also see it with military retirees whose family members cycle through the home around PCS moves and deployments. The person living there may feel like an owner, but the reverse mortgage looks only at who signed as a borrower.

With the players identified, the next question is what the occupancy rule actually requires.

The principal residence rule explained

A reverse mortgage borrower has three main ongoing responsibilities: pay property charges such as property taxes and homeowners insurance on time, keep the home in good repair, and live in the home as your principal residence. Falling short on any of these can lead to foreclosure.

Your principal residence is where you spend the majority of the year, and you can only have one principal residence at a time. Moving out for the majority of the year breaks this requirement.

Away more than two months but less than six

If you are away for more than two months but less than six months and there is no co-borrower living in the home, notify the lender or servicer. That notice tells them you still occupy the home as your principal residence.

This window matters for shorter stays, extended travel, or a temporary move to be near family while you sort out next steps.

Away more than six months for non-medical reasons

If you are away for more than six months for non-medical reasons and there is no co-borrower living in the home, the home is no longer your principal residence. The loan must be paid back or satisfied through selling the property or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

Anyone living with you will have to move out unless they are able to pay back the loan.

Away more than 12 consecutive months in a healthcare facility

If you are away for more than 12 consecutive months in a healthcare facility such as a hospital, rehabilitation center, nursing home, or assisted living facility, and there is no co-borrower living in the home, the home is also no longer your principal residence.

At that point the loan must be repaid or satisfied through sale or deed-in-lieu, and anyone living with you will have to move out unless they can pay back the loan or qualify as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse.

So what does that mean, concretely, for the people still in the house? That is the heart of the question.

What happens to the people living in your home

Once the reverse mortgage comes due, the people in the home have a limited set of outcomes under the CFPB’s guidance.

They can stay if they are able to pay back the loan. They may be able to stay if a spouse qualifies as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse. Otherwise, they will have to move when the home is sold or surrendered.

Notice what is not on the list: simply continuing to live there. A non-borrower occupant has no automatic right to remain, no matter how long they have lived in the home.

The one meaningful exception involves a spouse, so let’s take that path first.

The Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse exception

Who it may help

If you are away from your home in a healthcare facility for more than 12 consecutive months, your non-borrowing spouse may be able to stay in the home without paying off the loan. Whether that works depends on when the loan was originated and whether your spouse qualifies as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse under the rules set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

This protection is specific to a spouse. It does not extend to adult children, siblings, roommates, or other family members living in the home.

Why it is difficult and where to get help

The CFPB notes that qualifying as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse can be difficult. The agency suggests that a spouse in this position consider contacting an attorney or a HUD-approved housing counseling agency.

Do this early.

If the spouse exception does not apply, the remaining options all involve satisfying the loan balance one way or another.

Three ways the loan can be satisfied

Option 1: Someone pays back the loan

Anyone living with you can stay if they are able to pay back the loan. In practice that means paying off the reverse mortgage balance, which keeps the property in the family and ends the occupancy problem.

How they fund that payoff is their decision, and it depends on their own income, credit history, and resources. A conversation with a loan officer at 719 Lending can map out whether financing the payoff is realistic for the person who wants to stay.

Option 2: Sell the home

Selling is the most common way a reverse mortgage is repaid. The sale proceeds satisfy the loan, and the people living in the home move out.

For many families this is the cleanest resolution, especially when nobody in the household wants or is able to take on the payoff. Our overview of how reverse mortgages work covers the repayment side in more detail.

Option 3: Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure

The CFPB lists deed-in-lieu of foreclosure as the other way the loan can be satisfied when the home is no longer the borrower’s principal residence. The property goes back to the lender instead of going through a foreclosure process.

This is a serious step with legal consequences, so get advice from an attorney or a HUD-approved housing counselor before choosing it.

All of this looks different when there is a co-borrower, which is worth understanding even after the fact.

How a co-borrower would change the picture

If there is a co-borrower living in the home and you permanently move out for any reason, the co-borrower may continue to live in the home and continue to receive loan disbursements. The condition is that the co-borrower keeps fulfilling the reverse mortgage requirements: paying property taxes and homeowners insurance on time, keeping the home in good repair, and occupying it as a principal residence.

That is the structural difference between a co-borrower and everyone else in the household. A co-borrower stands inside the loan; a non-borrowing occupant stands outside it.

If you are early in the reverse mortgage process rather than already in it, this is the single most important design decision to discuss with your lender and family before closing. It is also why reviewing reverse mortgage borrower responsibilities before signing matters so much.

Whatever your situation, it helps to read the primary source directly.

What the official source says and where to read it

The rules in this article come from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Ask CFPB guidance on reverse mortgage borrower responsibilities and on moving out of a home with a reverse mortgage. You can read both at consumerfinance.gov under the reverse mortgage section of Ask CFPB.

The CFPB also points borrowers who need repair assistance to their local Area Agency on Aging, reachable at (800) 677-1116 or through eldercare.acl.gov. HUD-approved housing counseling agencies are the recommended resource for Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse questions.

With the rules clear, here is the practical sequence we suggest.

What to do next

First, pull out the loan documents and confirm exactly who is listed as a borrower on the reverse mortgage. Everything else flows from that answer.

Second, notify the lender or servicer about your absence, especially if you have been away more than two months.

Third, if a spouse lives in the home, contact a HUD-approved housing counseling agency or an attorney about Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse status before the loan is called due.

Fourth, if a family member wants to keep the home, have them talk with a lender about paying off the reverse mortgage balance. 719 Lending works with Colorado Springs families on exactly these transitions and can walk through whether a payoff is workable given their income, credit, and the property.

None of these conversations get easier with time, and the occupancy clock runs whether or not anyone acts. Start with the loan documents today, and loop in your family, your servicer, and a local loan officer this week.

Frequently asked questions

What happens to my reverse mortgage if I move into a nursing home and no co-borrower lives in my home?

If you are in a healthcare facility such as a nursing home, hospital, rehabilitation center, or assisted living for more than 12 consecutive months and no co-borrower lives in the home, the home is no longer your principal residence. The reverse mortgage must be repaid or satisfied through selling the property or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, unless your spouse qualifies as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse.

Can my adult child stay in the house if I have to move out of my reverse mortgage home?

Only if they are able to pay back the loan. An adult child who is not a co-borrower has no automatic right to remain, and the Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse protection applies only to a spouse. Otherwise, the home is typically sold to repay the reverse mortgage and occupants must move.

Who qualifies as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse on a reverse mortgage?

Qualification depends on when the loan was originated and whether the spouse meets HUD’s rules. The CFPB notes that qualifying can be difficult and recommends contacting an attorney or a HUD-approved housing counseling agency to review the specific situation.

Do I have to tell my lender if I’m away from my reverse mortgage home for a few months?

Yes. If you are away more than two months but less than six months and no co-borrower lives in the home, notify your lender or servicer so they know you still occupy the home as your principal residence.

What is the most common way a reverse mortgage gets paid back when the borrower moves out?

Selling the home. The sale proceeds satisfy the reverse mortgage, and anyone living in the home who is not a co-borrower will have to move unless they can pay back the loan themselves or qualify as an Eligible Non-Borrowing Spouse.

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719 Lending Inc. is not affiliated with or endorsed by HUD, FHA, VA, USDA, CHFA, the CFPB, or any government agency.

Last updated: October 2026