Tens of thousands of seniors would be unable to maintain their standard of living in retirement were it not for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage Program (HECM), which allows homeowners older than 62 to take out a loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) against the value of their home. But the recent bankruptcy of one of the program’s largest servicers, Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF), has exposed a weakness in the program that will undermine it if left unchecked. In this brief, we explain the importance of HECM, discuss the issues that led to RMF’s downfall, and offer thoughts on how the program can be improved to keep it viable for those who depend on it.