Reverse mortgages get marketed as “payment relief,” so it’s easy to assume the loan handles all the housing money stuff for you. Then a homeowner gets a scary letter, learns they’re behind on property charges, and wonders how that’s even possible. The catch is that a reverse mortgage can remove a monthly mortgage payment, but it does not erase the costs of owning a home. Those costs still arrive on schedule, even if your income doesn’t. If you went into the process thinking you wouldn’t need to keep up with taxes, you’re not alone. The gap is usually in the fine print, not your intelligence.
