Does Wells Fargo Do Reverse Mortgages? What Happened and Where to Go

There is no Wells Fargo reverse mortgage to apply for in 2026. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage announced on June 16, 2011 that it would stop originating Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), the FHA-insured loans most people mean by "reverse mortgage," and it stopped taking new applications after June 30, 2011. Its current mortgage pages list no reverse product. If you want a reverse mortgage today, it will come from a lender that still makes them.

I hear the Wells Fargo question most from homeowners in Bend who have banked there for decades and would rather keep everything under one roof. That instinct makes sense. It just does not work for this loan anymore, and it has not for fifteen years. The good news is that the reasons Wells Fargo gave for leaving say a lot about how the loan works now, and the answer to "where do I go instead" is short.

Brian Albrich and Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Wells Fargo & Company, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., or Bank of America Corporation. Company names are used here only for identification.

Does Wells Fargo Offer a Reverse Mortgage in 2026?

No. A Wells Fargo reverse mortgage is not available to new borrowers. When I checked wellsfargo.com on October 2, 2026, its mortgage section listed purchase and refinance loans but no reverse mortgage, and the old reverse mortgage address on the site returned a "page not found" error. Wells Fargo still offers plenty of other mortgage products. It simply has not been in the reverse business since 2011.

You may still run into the name. Older articles, comparison sites, and even some financial planners' handouts list Wells Fargo among reverse lenders, because for twenty years it was one. If a page you are reading treats a Wells Fargo reverse mortgage program as something you can sign up for, check its date.

What Happened to the Wells Fargo Reverse Mortgage Program

Wells Fargo's own June 16, 2011 news release, issued from Wells Fargo Home Mortgage in Des Moines, laid out the story in a few lines:

• It had been in the business a long time. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage began originating reverse mortgages in 1990, not long after the HECM program was created in 1987.
• It was a small slice of the bank's lending. In 2010, reverse loans were about 2.2 percent of Wells Fargo's retail mortgage volume and about 1.2 percent of its overall mortgage volume.
• The stated reasons. The bank pointed to "today's unpredictable home values" and to how hard it was, under the rules at the time, "to determine seniors' abilities to meet the obligations of homeownership and their reverse mortgage, e.g., payment of property taxes and homeowners' insurance."
• The cutoff. New applications were not accepted after June 30, 2011. Borrowers with an application already in process were told to contact their reverse mortgage consultant.
• Existing customers kept their loans. The release said Wells Fargo "will continue to service the loans of existing (HECM) reverse mortgage customers."

The bank's books show how much was still out there. Wells Fargo's 2011 annual report notes that at the end of that year it brought about $5.6 billion of FHA-insured reverse mortgages, loans it had previously sold into a Ginnie Mae securitization program, back onto its balance sheet. Stopping new loans did not make the old ones disappear, because a HECM has no maturity date. It runs until the last borrower sells, moves out, or passes away.

Bank of America Left Reverse Mortgages First

Wells Fargo was the second big bank to go that year. Bank of America's annual report for 2010, filed in February 2011, states: "On February 4, 2011, we announced that we are exiting the reverse mortgage origination business." Its next quarterly report tied a drop in reverse originations to "our decision to exit this business in February 2011." Bank of America's current mortgage pages, checked October 2, 2026, offer no reverse mortgage either. So a Bank of America reverse mortgage is in the same place as a Wells Fargo reverse mortgage: something you may have heard of, not something you can apply for.

Both banks left within about four months of each other, and the household-name exits did not stop there. Here is the pattern, with the details on each company's own page:

More on each: does Rocket Mortgage do reverse mortgages, Mr. Cooper and reverse mortgages, and what happened to Liberty Reverse Mortgage. The general reasons big forward lenders tend to skip this product are covered on the Rocket page, so I will not repeat them here.

Why the Reasons Wells Fargo Gave Matter to You Now

Read the Wells Fargo release closely and its main worry was not the borrowers' homes. It was whether borrowers could keep paying their property taxes and homeowners insurance after closing, and the bank said the rules made that hard to judge. That was a fair concern. A reverse mortgage removes the monthly mortgage payment, but it does not remove taxes, insurance, or upkeep, and falling behind on them is one of the main ways a reverse mortgage comes due.

Today's HECM handles that question head-on. Every applicant goes through a financial assessment that looks at credit history, income, and residual income, and HUD's Handbook 4000.1 lets the lender require a Life Expectancy Set-Aside (LESA) that holds back part of the loan to pay property charges when the assessment shows a risk. In other words, the gap Wells Fargo described is now part of the underwriting. How that review works, and what can fail it, is on what disqualifies you from a reverse mortgage. What happens if taxes or insurance do fall behind is on can you lose your home with a reverse mortgage.

The other reason, unpredictable home values, also has a built-in answer for the borrower. A HECM is non-recourse. If home values fall, neither you nor your heirs owe more than the home is worth when the loan is repaid. FHA mortgage insurance, not your family, covers the gap.

If You Already Have a Wells Fargo Reverse Mortgage

Any Wells Fargo reverse mortgage still on the books was originated before mid-2011, so it has been running for at least fifteen years. If you or a parent has one, three things are worth knowing.

1. Your loan terms did not change when Wells Fargo stopped making new loans. A HECM's terms, its FHA insurance, and its non-recourse protection belong to the loan, not to the company that made it.
2. Check who services it today, using your own paperwork. Reverse loans can change servicers over their life, and an older HECM may also have been assigned to HUD. Your most recent statement names your current servicer. Federal servicing rules (Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.33) require a notice when servicing transfers, generally at least 15 days before or within 15 days after the change. Do not rely on an old Wells Fargo phone number or a search result.
3. If HUD holds the loan, a contractor services it for HUD. HUD currently uses Compu-Link Corporation, doing business as Celink, for HECMs it holds. What that means for statements, draws, and payoffs, including the warning that HUD does not take wire payoffs, is on Compulink and Celink reverse mortgage servicing.

If an older Wells Fargo HECM no longer fits, for example because your home has gained a lot of value since 2011, the 2026 lending limit is much higher, or you want a line of credit the old loan does not offer, a new reverse loan can pay it off. Whether that math works is covered on reverse mortgage refinance. Heirs settling a parent's Wells Fargo-era loan should start with reverse mortgage heirs.

Where to Get a Reverse Mortgage Now That Wells Fargo Is Out

Reverse mortgages now come almost entirely from lenders that specialize in them. The market is concentrated. Reverse Market Insight figures reported by HousingWire for August 2026 put the three largest HECM lenders at Finance of America (433 loans endorsed that month), Mutual of Omaha (395), and Longbridge (357), together about 62 percent of the top-100 lenders' total. Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, where I work, has a dedicated reverse division that originates FHA-insured HECMs as well as jumbo and proprietary reverse loans.

Because a Wells Fargo reverse mortgage is off the table, you will be choosing among companies you may not know as well as your bank. That is reasonable to be careful about. A few starting points:

• How the largest reverse mortgage lenders compare, side by side.
• How to spot a reverse mortgage company to avoid, including what regulators have penalized.
• Five questions to ask any reverse mortgage company near you.
• For homes above the 2026 HECM limit of $1,249,125, jumbo reverse mortgages.

Whichever lender you pick, the HECM itself is the same federal program, with the same HUD rules and the same required independent counseling session. See reverse mortgage counseling for how that works and how long it takes to get a reverse mortgage for the timeline.

What Every Reverse Mortgage Requires of You

Whether it came from Wells Fargo in 2009 or from a specialist lender this fall, every FHA-insured HECM carries these terms, because they come from HUD rather than from the lender:

• Age. Borrowers must be 62 years of age or older to qualify for a HECM. Certain proprietary reverse mortgage products may be available to borrowers as young as 55, depending on the state and program. The details are on reverse mortgage age requirements.
• You keep the title. With a reverse mortgage you keep the title to and ownership of your home.
• Ongoing obligations. You remain responsible for paying property taxes, homeowners insurance, and any HOA dues; for maintaining the home; and for occupying it as your primary residence. Failure to meet these obligations may cause the loan to become due and payable.
• Non-recourse. A HECM is a non-recourse loan, so you or your heirs will never owe more than the home is worth at the time the loan is repaid.
• Counseling. Before obtaining a HECM, all borrowers must complete a counseling session with a HUD-approved reverse mortgage counselor.

A reverse mortgage is a home-secured loan that must be repaid. Its proceeds are loan advances rather than income, so they are generally not treated as taxable income, but confirm your own situation, including any effect on need-based benefits, with a tax or benefits advisor.

A Wells Fargo Reverse Mortgage Alternative in Bend and Central Oregon

Plenty of Central Oregon retirees bank with Wells Fargo or Bank of America. Neither bank can take a reverse mortgage application. For that, you need a reverse lender, and ideally one you can sit across a table from.

The equity is there. About 21.8 percent of Deschutes County residents are 65 or older, and the Beacon Report's August 2026 figures put the median single-family sale in Bend at about $721,000, Sisters near $682,000, and Sunriver near $973,000. How those values translate into reverse mortgage proceeds, town by town, is on Central Oregon home values and reverse mortgages.

Brian Albrich meets homeowners at 601 NW Harmon Blvd in Bend and across Redmond, Sunriver, Sisters, La Pine, and Prineville. Keep your accounts wherever you like. Bring your questions, your property tax statement, and anyone in the family who should hear the answers. The Bend reverse mortgage guide covers the local picture in more depth.

Wells Fargo Reverse Mortgage: Frequently Asked Questions