Delaware lets you get a loan on your home with no monthly mortgage payments. Your lender must have written proof of counseling before the loan can be finalized. The federal Home Equity Conversion Mortgage is called a HECM. It provides part of your home's worth as cash, a credit line or monthly payouts. During fiscal year 2025, 110 homeowners in Delaware closed a HECM. For 93 recent Delaware loans, $394,000 was the median home value and $166,568 was the median starting principal limit. Before you subtract closing costs and any existing mortgage, your principal limit is all the money the loan makes available.
Delaware Title 5: counseling and lender rules
Any reverse mortgage Delaware’s licensed lenders provide has to meet the rules in Title 5, Chapter 22, Subchapter IV of the Delaware Code. A licensed lender can't close your loan, under Section 2244, without a written certification provided by an independent housing counselor. This document is proof that you finished reverse mortgage counseling. Delaware says an independent counselor is a housing counseling agency with HUD approval, a government body, or a nonprofit that isn't connected to your lender. Right now HUD shows 0 approved housing counseling agencies located in Delaware.
Lenders also have to register with the state. To make these loans under this chapter, Section 2240 says they first must obtain a license of registration issued by the State Bank Commissioner. Violating that law carries a $50 to $200 fine for each offense, plus jail for as much as 3 months. Section 2243 also prohibits false or misleading advertising to the public about these loans or whether they're available.
Could the $500 Senior School Property Tax Relief cut what you owe?
For regular school property taxes, Delaware offers homeowners 65 and older a credit of 50 percent, with a $500 maximum. The credit covers your main home. In every state, federal reverse mortgage rules say you must pay property taxes and homeowners insurance on your home, so that savings helps. You're also required by those federal terms to live in the home as your main residence and to keep it in good shape. Your loan can go into default if you fall behind on property taxes. Default means you've broken the loan terms, and that allows the lender to demand the full balance.
Send your Senior School Property Tax Relief application to the Delaware Department of Finance. You need to send in your application by April 30. If your Delaware domicile began on January 1, 2018 or later, you're required to have at least 10 straight years of legal domicile in the state. Domicile is your permanent legal residence where you live all the time. You also have to pay the full property tax bill before each tax year ends to be eligible the next year.
Help with complaints and oversight from the Office of the State Bank Commissioner
Consumer lenders and mortgage loan brokers all over Delaware are licensed and overseen by the Office of the State Bank Commissioner. According to HUD data, there are 24 active reverse mortgage lenders in Delaware. If you run into trouble with a mortgage company, the Commissioner's staff will talk through the issue with you. Before you apply, verify a lender's license so you're sure the company is registered in Delaware.
You can call the compliance staff with questions at 302-739-4235. If an investigation is needed, you must put your consumer complaint in writing and send it in. Send a written complaint by mail to 1110 Forrest Avenue, Dover, Delaware 19904, Attention: Compliance.
