``It's not a welfare program; it's not a giveaway; it's not even a subsidized program,'' Pembroke said. ``It's a program designed for the middle-class person who just wants to maintain their current lifestyle. They're the people who aren't rich enough to make it without help and aren't poor enough to qualify for social programs.''

Popular for the past 25 years in Europe, reverse mortgages have drawn interest in the U.S. only in the last few years.

Two bills in Congress would enlarge the HUD program to 25,000 loans nationally. Action could be taken this spring.

When the HUD program was announced last February, ARCS and First Security Bank in Tacoma, the two regional firms selected to administer the program, were deluged with applicants.

Pembroke said ARCS stopped the waiting list in June at 250. A spokeswoman for Security Bank said that firm has an equal number of people on a waiting list.

ARCS, where Walsh applied, expects to be the first to issue a reverse mortgage, probably sometime in April.

Loans granted through the HUD program are insured through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Payments are guaranteed for life, even after the amount of principal and interest due exceeds the value of the house.

Although the loaned amount can exceed the home's value, repayment can never be more than the value of the original loan. Even if the payments greatly surpass the value of the home, the lender cannot seek repayment from the home's appreciated value or other assets.

Payments received from a reverse mortgage are not considered taxable income and do not affect Social Security or Medicare benefits.

Pembroke said the typical applicant is a single man or woman in their 70s with one or no children and a home valued between $100,000 and $200,000.

Although their is no limit on the value of the home borrowed against, HUD is limiting loans to $122,450.

Monthly payments are based on home value and a life expectancy of 90 years. A HUD reverse mortgage secured by a $100,000 home and charged an interest rate of 10 percent would pay a 65-year-old about $198 a month while an 85-year-old would get about $587 each month.

Closing costs are $3,000 plus 7 percent of the home's value, $10,000 on a $100,000 home. There is also a monthly loan fee of about $20. Fees can be financed as part of the loan.

The homeowner is allowed to move out for up to 12 months - as might happen in the case of a lengthy illness - before being required to sell.

Lenders are allowed to make annual inspections to ensure that the property is maintained.

``About the only way a person can be forced to sell early is if they let the home go to pot,'' Pembroke said.

The chance of more people living past 90 and requirements that reverse mortgages be guaranteed for life have kept most private mortgage firms away.

Capital Holding Corp. of Kentucky was the first private firm to offer reverse mortgages, closing about 100 mortgages in seven states since starting the program last year. Capital is researching bringing their program to Washington, said senior vice president Raymond McEneaney.

The HUD and Capital reverse mortgages are designed much like conventional mortgages with lenders making money on fixed interest charges. A second type of reverse mortgage, in which the lender shares in the appreciated value of the house, has lost steam. McEneaney said lenders fear they would lose their investment in a depreciating market - now happening in some areas of the East Coast. In a boom market, like Seattle, McEneaney said lenders offering conventional arrangements would take all the business.

``At first we thought there would be a real concern that the program took away the children's inheritance,'' McEneaney said. ``But after we talked to a few of the kids, we found they were less reluctant then the parents. That makes sense when you realize one of the options is for the children to come up with the money to help Mom and Dad now.''

But that's only an option for seniors who have children.

Walsh was never married and has no children. ``If I don't spend my equity it won't benefit anybody I know,'' Walsh said.

And then there is the 80-year-old Kent widow, also a reverse mortgage applicant, who has only a daughter.

``I don't feel I owe her an inheritance,'' she said. ``I may be 80, but I'm still very active. I don't want to leave my house yet and I don't think I should have to.''

The widow, who asked that her name not be used, only learned after her husband died that he had canceled his life insurance.

``I knew then that there was no way I could stay in my house unless I found something like this,'' she said. ``It's an ideal situation. It has a flexibility about it that is so often lacking where money and loans are concerned for older people.''

While reverse mortgages can be the answer for many older people, they are not for everyone, said Ken Scholen, director of the National Center for Home Equity Conversion, a private consumer group that specializes in mortgage assistance programs. He said other programs or options may meet the need without depeleting a person's home equity.

To examine those other options the HUD program requires applicants to see an independent financial counselor.

``A person with a $40,000 home who needs $800 a month in payments is not going to find a reverse mortgage very helpful,'' Scholen said. ``A person who just needs money to pay their taxes would be better to seek a tax deferment.''

As for expansion of the HUD reverse mortgage program, Pembroke said the best advice she can offer people is to write their Congressional representative.

McEnearney expects private sector lenders to gradually add reverse mortgage programs. He said it will probably take about two years for people to learn about the advantages and the industry to put aside its fears.

``We're still in the education process,'' McEnearney said. ``Once that is complete, I think we will see thousands of these loans going through every year.''