HECM calculator: federal reverse-mortgage principal limit, no email

The HECM principal limit is the maximum amount a federally insured reverse mortgage will let a borrower draw, computed as the lesser of home value or the 2026 FHA HECM lending limit of $1,249,125 (HUD ML 2025-22) multiplied by the borrower's Principal Limit Factor from the HUD PLF table. Enter age and home value. The output is an HECM principal-limit estimate using the FHA Principal Limit Factor table and the 2026 lending limit of $1,249,125 (HUD Mortgagee Letter 2025-22). No email, no phone, no SSN.

What does the number mean?

The figure above is the HECM principal limit: the maximum the federal Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program will lend a borrower of this age, against this home value, over the life of the loan. The principal limit is the starting figure, not cash at closing. Upfront mortgage insurance (2.0% of the maximum claim amount), origination fees (capped by HUD at $6,000), third-party closing costs, and any existing forward-mortgage payoff come out of the principal limit before any proceeds disburse to the borrower.

HECM eligibility in one paragraph

The federal program has three hard eligibility lines. The youngest borrower must be at least 62 (FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 §II.B.5). The home must be the borrower's primary residence, occupied for the majority of the calendar year. And the borrower must complete a HUD-approved counseling session before the FHA case number is assigned. The financial assessment is not a traditional income-and-credit underwrite; the lender confirms the borrower can meet the ongoing property charges (taxes, insurance, maintenance, HOA dues where applicable). Default on those charges, not failure to make a mortgage payment, is the most common cause of HECM termination outside of move-out or death. The full eligibility checklist lives at reverse-mortgage requirements.

Why the case-number year matters

The HECM lending limit changes each calendar year, and the figure that applies to a loan is the limit in effect on the date the FHA case number is assigned, not the date the loan closes. For case numbers assigned on or after January 1, 2026, the limit is $1,249,125 (HUD Mortgagee Letter 2025-22). For case numbers assigned in 2025, the limit is $1,209,750 (HUD Mortgagee Letter 2024-23). The calculator above uses the 2026 limit. A borrower whose case number was assigned in 2025 but who has not yet closed runs the calculation against the 2025 figure; the lender's loan-officer software applies the correct limit by case-number-assignment date automatically.

How our numbers work

The calculator pulls the current HUD Principal Limit Factor table at build time and indexes it by the borrower's age and the expected interest rate. The expected rate is the 10-year Treasury Constant Maturity rate (Federal Reserve H.15, daily release) plus the lender's margin. HUD's PLF methodology floors the expected rate at 3.0%; any combination of 10Y CMT and margin that totals below 3.0% uses 3.0% as the indexed rate. The 3.0% floor was set by HUD Mortgagee Letter 2017-12 (which replaced the earlier 5.0% floor; older aggregator pages still cite the 5.06% figure in error). The maximum claim amount is the lesser of the appraised value and the FHA HECM lending limit. The full formula and the inputs the calculator does not collect are documented on the methodology page.

Frequently asked questions

Next step: compare reverse-mortgage programs for parameter cards on each lender, or read the methodology if the number above needs more context.

Last reviewed 2026-05-20