Our Editorial Standards
A reverse mortgage decision affects a person's home and their heirs. These are the rules our content is held to, including the ones that stop us publishing anything we cannot support.
Principles
This site covers a product where the consequences of bad information are permanent: the collateral is the reader's home. We write for the borrower and their family, not for the lender and not for search engines.
- No fact is published without a source that a reader could check themselves.
- Unknown is a publishable answer. “Not verified” appears wherever we have not confirmed a value.
- We do not estimate, round up, or infer a figure and present it as fact.
- Superlatives such as “best,” “fastest” or “most trusted” are only used where a defined, sourced measurement supports them.
- We describe risk as plainly as benefit, including what happens to a non-borrowing spouse, to heirs, and if property charges go unpaid.
- We are not a lender, broker, or advisor, and we do not present our content as personalized financial, legal, or tax advice.
Sourcing rules
Sources are ranked. Where sources conflict, the higher-ranked one wins and the conflict is recorded on the record as disputed rather than quietly resolved.
| Tier | Source type | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Regulators (NMLS, HUD/FHA, state agencies) | Licensing, program participation, status, enforcement |
| 2 | Government datasets (e.g. federal complaint and housing data) | Complaint and market data |
| 3 | Company disclosures and filings | Products, terms, coverage, corporate structure |
| 4 | Named third-party data and reputable reporting | Context and corroboration |
| 5 | Documented editorial research | Our own checks, recorded with method and date |
Content process
Structured data layer
Company facts live in canonical records with per-field provenance, so no page hard-codes its own version of a fact.
Neutral handling of unverified data
Pages render “Not verified” or “Rating pending” instead of a plausible-looking value.
Named authors and reviewers
Bylines and reviewer credentials attached to each substantive page.
Scheduled content review
Recurring review of published guidance against current program rules.
Use of automation
Automation may be used to collect and structure data and to draft internal notes. It is not a source. No figure enters a published record because a model produced it; it enters because a named source was checked and recorded.
Independence
Rankings and scores are determined by our published editorial methodology and are not influenced by compensation.
Companies we cover do not review content before publication, cannot buy placement or a score, and cannot have unfavorable verified information removed.
Not financial advice
This site publishes general information only and is not financial, legal, or tax advice. A reverse mortgage uses your home as collateral and may not be suitable for everyone.