If you or a family member is in need of cash and at least 62 years-old, a reverse mortgage may be an option.

A reverse mortgage is similar to a home equity loan or home equity credit line. But with a reverse mortgage, you don't need income to qualify. Credit scores don't matter. And you needn't repay the loan until you move, sell the home or die.

About the only reverse mortgages available these days are administered and insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under a program known as the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage.

The limit on that loan has increased to $625,000 through this year, but will revert to $417,000 absent new legislation on Jan. 1.

Unfortunately, these loans are complex and carry lots of glitches.

For one thing, they're very costly. A recently issued report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, says you can expect to pay a 2 percent mortgage insurance premium; an origination fee ranging from $2,500 to $6,000; monthly servicing fees of $30 to $35; interest charges and a monthly premium upwards of 0.5 percent annually. These charges may be rolled into the loan balance, accruing even more interest.

Because these loans are so confusing, you're required to get counseling from a HUD-approved counseling agency to qualify. Counseling agencies may charge up to $125, as long as the fee doesn't create a financial hardship. You can't be turned away from counseling due to inability to pay.

When it comes to reverse mortgages, beware of scams and misleading marketing materials and sales pitches. The GAO report cites instances in which seniors were sold reverse mortgages and hoodwinked into putting the proceeds from the loan into unsuitable annuities.

Under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, a lender or anyone else can't require a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage borrower to purchase insurance, an annuity or similar product as a condition of obtaining the loan.

Plus, a lender can't be associated with any other financial or insurance product unless firewalls and other safeguards are maintained to ensure that employees originating the reverse mortgages don't also sell other financial instruments. HUD currently is developing regulations to implement these provisions.

In the meantime, eight of 29 insurance regulators responding to GAO for its report said that from 2005 through January 2009, they had at least one case of an insurance agent selling an unsuitable insurance product that a consumer had purchased using reverse mortgage funds.

Plus, it cited a number of potentially misleading claims in marketing materials for the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage. Among those:

• "Never owe more than the value of your home." If you or your heirs keep the home when the loan becomes due, more than the home's value could be owed once all the accrued interest is tallied.

• Implications that the reverse mortgage is a "government benefit" or otherwise not a loan. HUD administers the program, but it clearly a loan with steep fees.

• "Lifetime income" or "Can't outlive loan." In fact, income from the loan can stop if you move.

• "Never lose your home." A lender may foreclose if you fail to pay property taxes and hazard insurance or fail to maintain your home.

• Misrepresentation of symbols or logos to imply the lender is a government agency.

• Falsely implying that the loans are limited to a certain geographic area, or that you must respond within a certain time to qualify.

You can get more information on reverse mortgages at www.hud.gov