www.nrmlaonline.org The official magazine of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association July-August 2023 Volume 16, No. 4 INSIDE: Meeting Challenges NEW FEATURE: Servicing Corner P.25 P.36 Female Reverse Mortgage Executives Discuss Their Careers and Offer Advice for Other Women RISING TO THE TOP
For business and professional use only. Not for consumer distribution. | The HomeSafe reverse mortgage is a proprietary product of Finance of America Reverse LLC and is not affiliated with the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. Not all HomeSafe products are available in every state. Please contact us for a complete list of availability. | ©2023 Finance of America Reverse LLC is licensed nationwide | Equal Housing Opportunity | NMLS ID # 2285 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org) | 8023 East 63rd Place, Suite 700 | Tulsa, OK 74133 |AZ Mortgage Banker License #0921300 | Licensed by the Department of Business Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act | Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee #23647 | Kansas Licensed Mortgage Company | Massachusetts Lender/Broker License MC2285: Finance of America Reverse LLC | Licensed by the N.J. Department of Banking and Insurance | Licensed Mortgage Banker -- NYS Banking Department where Finance of America Reverse is known as FAReverse LLC in lieu of true name Finance of America Reverse LLC | Rhode Island Licensed Lender | Not all products and options are available in all states | Terms subject to change without notice | For licensing information go to: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org Find out how HomeSafe Second puts you & your clients first FARWholesale.com/HomeSafeSecond A Second Mortgage That Puts Cash Flow First Meet HomeSafe Second, a second lien and HELOC alternative that unlocks home equity without additional monthly payments. Interest Rate Type Fixed Variable Minimum Credit Score 600 (with financial assessment) 680 Monthly Payments Required No. But you can make a payment at anytime without penalty to preserve equity Yes. Interest only for 10 years, then fully amortizing over 20 years Minimum Age Yes. 55, 60, or 62 depending on your state No Borrower Still Owns Home Yes Yes Repayment Options Due when the borrower moves, leaves the property, fails to pay taxes or insurance or violates the terms of the loan 30 years. Interest only for 10 years, then fully amortizing over 20 years. HELOC 1 1 This is an educational example of one HELOC. Requirements, payment, and other terms may vary between lenders.
From the Top Matt Neumeyer, president and founder, Premier Reverse Mortgage By Darryl Hicks 10 Those We Help Couple is living their dream By Darryl Hicks 33 July/August 2023 Volume 16, No. 4 Contents CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table A chat with Laura Kiel, Kiel Mortgage, Tukwila, WA By M. Diane McCormick 13 Features 18 Rising to the Top Female reverse mortgage executives discuss their careers and offer advice for other women By Joel Berg 25 Meeting Challenges Reverse industry provides many opportunities, leaders say By M. Diane McCormick Columns 3 In Reverse Sometimes, solid mentors can be found nearby By Thomas A. Barstow 5 Steve Irwin: Moving Forward How to build great teams 6 Board Room Recruiting and retention in today’s reverse mortgage market By Scott Harmes, CRMP Departments 2 Scribes Meet this month’s contributors 8 Hey, Members A roundup of issues and news for NRMLA members 34 Member News Who’s who in reverse mortgages 36 Servicing Corner Borrowers can make partial prepayments PUBLISHER Peter Bell pbell@dworbell.com SENIOR EDITOR Thomas A. Barstow thomas.barstow@theYGSgroup.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Darryl Hicks dhicks@dworbell.com MANAGING EDITOR Therese Umerlik therese.umerlik@theYGSgroup.com MANAGING EDITOR, DWORBELL, INC. Jessica Hoefer PRESIDENT Stephen Irwin NRMLA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS Scott Norman, Finance of America Reverse Michael Kent, PHH Mortgage Corp. dba Liberty Reverse Mortgage DESIGNER Christel Emenheiser ADVERTISING SALES Natalie Matter Bellis natalie.matterbellis@theYGSgroup.com Reverse Mortgage is the official publication of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. The magazine is published every two months. For inquiries regarding association membership and/or magazine subscriptions, please call Darryl Hicks at 202-939-1784. Advertising and editorial inquiries should be directed to Natalie Matter Bellis (natalie.matterbellis@ theYGSgroup.com) and Therese Umerlik (therese.umerlik@theYGSgroup.com), respectively. Association & Subscription Contact: National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association 1400 16th St., NW, Suite 420 Washington, DC 20036 202-939-1760 lross@dworbell.com Industry: www.nrmlaonline.org Consumers: www.reversemortgage.org Advertising & Editorial Contact: National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association 1400 16th St., NW, Suite 420 Washington, DC 20036 202-939-1760 ©2023 National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association NEW!
Scribes Meet This Month’s Contributors Thomas A. Barstow (In Reverse, p. 3) is the senior editor for Reverse Mortgage magazine. Barstow has had a 38-year career in journalism that includes being a reporter, writer or editor in Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York. He currently teaches journalism at Gettysburg College and writes for various business publications. He is a former president of the Pennsylvania Society of News Editors and a former president of the Associated Press Media Editors in Pennsylvania. Joel Berg (Rising to the Top, p. 18) has been a business- to-business reporter and editor for more than 20 years, both in-house and freelance, covering finance, healthcare, environmental regulation and general business news for local, regional and national publications. Most recently, he was editor of the Central Penn Business Journal and Lehigh Valley Business in Pennsylvania. He also taught writing and communications at York College, Millersville University, Gettysburg College and Harrisburg University. Scott Harmes (Board Room, p. 6) is national manager for C2 Reverse, the reverse mortgage division of the nation’s largest mortgage broker. Over the past seven years, Harmes designed and implemented the C2 Reverse Training, Certification and Origination program that has certified hundreds of veteran loan officers, preparing them to ethically and competently help senior homeowners to utilize reverse mortgages as a sustainable solution. He is a member of the NRMLA Board of Directors and NRMLA’s Education Committee, where he creates and teaches course content for NRMLA’s continuing education courses for NMLS and CRMP continuing education credit. He also has mentored more than ten percent of all CRMPs nationwide through to their successful CRMP certification, the highest-level certification in the reverse mortgage industry. (NMLS # 248551 CA DRE Broker’s License 01113987) Darryl Hicks (Hey, Members, p. 8, From the Top, p. 10, and Those We Help, p. 33) joined NRMLA in May 1999 and currently serves as vice president of communications. Hicks writes the Weekly Report newsletter, administers NRMLA’s social media accounts and websites, and manages the CRMP designation. Steve Irwin (Moving Forward, p. 5), president of NRMLA, oversees the association’s initiatives to serve as an educational resource, policy advocate and public affairs center for consumers, lenders and related professionals. His background includes experience with strategic planning, organizational design, portfolio acquisition, risk management and quality control. He received his B.A. from Grinnell College and his MBA from the University of San Francisco. M. Diane McCormick (CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table, p. 13 and Meeting Challenges, p. 25) is a freelance journalist and former legislative press secretary. She covers issues involving a variety of national business associations, as well as basic and higher education. Her 2017 book, Well-Behaved Taverns Seldom Make History, explores Pennsylvania pubs where rabble-rousers stirred up trouble, from the American Revolution to Prohibition. 2 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
In Reverse Sometimes, Solid Mentors Can Be Found Nearby By Thomas A. Barstow EARLY IN MY career, when I first became a manager, I faced a dilemma. I had an employee who was a wonderful person, and I liked him. But he couldn’t do the job he was hired to do by the previous manager. I had yet to fire someone, so I turned to one of my mentors. My mother was one of two women who graduated from the University of Maryland Medical School in 1950. Her career included being an administrator and manager. I also knew her to be compassionate, especially when it came to people who are struggling, and firing this young man would hurt his career and his family. Her advice surprised me, although it was based on common sense. She simply stated that I was hired to protect the best interests of the newspaper company. As long as the top managers didn’t ask me to do anything unethical, which they never did, then my professional and moral obligations were to make sure I had the best people in place to achieve clearly set goals. I thought about that as I was working on this issue of Reverse Mortgage magazine. The women we highlight have interesting lessons anyone can learn from. And they have been open to discussing their exceptional careers, offering their thoughts on their keys to success. If I were to pick a common theme among the interviews, it would be this: There are no shortcuts. Hard work, compassion, intelligence and dedication help get people to the top. The two main articles in this issue are supplemented with short articles about the various women who either work for reverse mortgage lenders or for one of the many companies that support the industry. I found some of the discussions about mentoring and training to be particularly interesting. Several people mentioned parents or others outside work who have helped guide their careers. I, too, found that to be the case, while also relying on the counsel of more experienced journalists who had my best interests at heart. Not all of the women we talked to started in the lending industry, which shows that management and In Reverse continued on page 4 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 3
leadership skills can be transferable. One example is Kellan Brown, senior vice president of business development and strategic partnerships at Finance of America Reverse (FAR). Brown started in the sports marketing industry but found opportunities in the construction industry, where she learned through a mentor how to strengthen her hard and soft skills to be a leader. She tells writer Joel Berg in the article Rising to the Top (p. 18) that she seeks to create mentorship programs, including one at FAR. “We have seen increased retention and more promotions across the organization in part because of this program,” Brown says in the article. Recruitment and retention remain critical efforts industrywide, even though the lending atmosphere continues to suffer from economic uncertainty. And we get some expert insights in the Board Room column (p. 6) written by Scott Harmes, CRMP, a top leader at C2 Reverse and a longtime NRMLA board member. Harmes outlines the intense training his company offers new recruits, as well as seasoned loan officers, to help them succeed in their careers. Training opportunities remain one of the most important aspects of getting solid workers while keeping top performers engaged. Those efforts have led C2 Reverse to have 20 CRMPs, the credential that loan officers can earn through NRMLA’s education program. One reason we chose to focus on female leaders was to help keep inspiring people who might be considering a career in lending or in the various servicing companies. Almost to a person, these leaders talk about the tremendous opportunities available to anyone. “Having strong female leaders on your leadership team will help attract more talented women,” Jennifer Cosentini, housing director of Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp., tells writer M. Diane McCormick in the article Meeting Challenges (p. 25). “It allows them to see a potential career path in the industry. This is about more than just gender equality, ethics or inclusivity. Diversity in leadership is good for business.” On a separate item, you will notice a new feature in this issue. As part of an ongoing effort by NRMLA’s leaders to provide solid news our readers can use, they have added a column titled Servicing Corner. This column will touch on some of the details of what it takes to service loans. It will run every other issue, which means three times per year. That effort starts with the first column, Borrowers Can Make Partial Prepayments (p. 36). In Reverse In Reverse continued from page 3 4 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
Moving Forward How to Build Great Teams Diversity Fosters Success in Challenging Times By Steve Irwin, President, National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association “Fundamental honesty is the keystone of business.” —Harvey Firestone, Founder, Firestone Tire Co. WE ARE ALL more than familiar with the monumental headwinds our industry has faced over the past few quarters. These challenges necessarily spill over into our efforts to build best-in-class teams that embody rapid-response structures, are nimble and can adapt to the ever-changing environment. And they need to be imaginative and critically, completely honest with themselves, management, colleagues and customers. The teams who embody these intangible attributes surely will weather the storms and will be shining examples of the possibilities of our industry. How then do we create a corporate environment that will nurture and promote such intangible strengths? How do we recruit and retain teams that will grow with honest situational awareness? One key is the creation of a workplace where employees are well-grounded and happy since that kind of environment reduces turnover and attracts the sort of new and diverse talent these times demand. It is important to note a recent study by Glassdoor indicated that more than “ … three out of four job seekers and employees (76 percent) report that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers. This means that whether or not your company is interested in increasing its diversity, most candidates are nevertheless evaluating diversity when they research your company and during the interview process.” The times demand a workplace that is welcoming of individuals from all walks of life and can honestly relate to your diverse customer base. While diversity is a critical component to creating a corporate culture that will propel growth and unleash your teams in amazing directions, so too will a culture that focuses on collaboration and transparency among diverse team members. An honest commitment to the training, personal development and career development of your unique and diverse teams will establish a truly invigorating learning environment and keep your best talent thoroughly engaged. Yes, our marketplace is dealing with unprecedented challenges. These challenges are opportunities to honestly reevaluate our corporate cultures and take those cultures in fresh and exciting directions. Striving to create a diverse and inclusive workplace that promotes honesty, creativity and imagination will help propel us forward and make our entire industry stronger once we get to the other side of this cycle. Let’s be honest, we know the impact will be evident in improved bottom-line performance, enhanced employee engagement and unprecedented customer satisfaction. Steve Irwin REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 5
Board Room THE KEYS TO success for any organization are its ability to recruit top-quality talent with the appropriate knowledge and skills and then retain that talent through market cycles. Given the specialized nature of the reverse mortgage business, an additional key to success is training to ensure competent service for our senior homeowners. C2 Financial is primarily a forward mortgage broker that bases its recruiting on high commission splits to loan officers and on providing resources for those loan officers that allow them to provide efficient service to their borrowers with the best loan terms. The C2 Reverse Division is marketed in our corporate recruiting as a resource that will provide a loan officer (LO) with an additional income source in a business with market cycles that are not totally synced to the forward mortgage business. In recruiting for our reverse division, we also highlight our high commission splits and access to virtually every reverse mortgage program available. LOs have access to reverse mortgage training oriented to LOs who are new to reverse or new to the company, as well as those who are experienced in originating reverse. For new-to-reverse LOs, our C2 Reverse Certification Program is provided online and on demand. It is selfpaced and includes technical training through the advanced nuts and bolts of reverse mortgages, reverse mortgage marketing and promotion, as well as training on effective senior-client interaction. For more experienced reverse mortgage originators, the company provides advanced reverse mortgage training and a stepby-step mentoring process for achieving NRMLA’s CRMP certification. Through the training program, 334 of our new-to- reverse LOs have gotten C2 reverse certified, and more than 20 of our advanced LOs have become CRMPs. The training is important as a recruiting tool but also as a key retention tool. The complex nature of the reverse mortgage product and the difficulty in getting established in the reverse business make retention a challenge. Recognizing this challenge—and that most of our LOs originate both forward and reverse—C2 Reverse provides all the resources a LO needs only “two clicks away” to prospect, market, originate and close reverse mortgages through our online LO-facing Blue Door Portal. Efficiency in our reverse business is a key factor in getting forward mortgage LOs to commit to reverse as a viable business opportunity. The company “reverse-engineered” what it takes for LOs to provide efficient, competent service to our senior clients who are making decisions related to their most treasured asset—their home equity. Scott Harmes Recruiting and Retention in Today’s Reverse Mortgage Market By Scott Harmes, CRMP 6 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
NRMLA Submits Letters to HUD, State Lawmakers NRMLA, with input from our committees, submits comments throughout the year to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other regulators that seek public feedback on proposed regulatory changes and to state lawmakers when they introduce bills that could impact reverse mortgage lenders and servicers. Here are just a few recent examples: • NRMLA offered recommendations to HUD to make the assignment process for HECMs more efficient and to further reduce liquidity risk to mortgagees. HUD published a draft mortgagee letter on April 4 that proposed changes to the HECM Assignment Claim Type 22 submission criteria and requested feedback. Among its recommendations, NRMLA proposed that in lieu of requiring mortgagees to provide a current hazard and, if applicable, flood insurance declaration page in the compliance package, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) should permit mortgagees to provide electronic evidence that such insurance is in force and in effect, as well as coverage amounts. • NRMLA sent a letter to New York Assemblyman David I. Weprin in mid-April in response to Assembly Bill 5877 that he introduced to repeal Section 280-a of the New York Real Property Law and amend Section 280 of the New York Real Property Law. The bill would raise the minimum age to obtain a reverse mortgage from 60 to 62 and disallow any fees from being charged for the processing of a reverse mortgage until a lender receives a signed counseling certificate. In its letter, NRMLA asked Weprin to consider lowering the minimum borrower age to 55 to accommodate younger homeowners who may wish to obtain a proprietary reverse mortgage. NRMLA also recommended that the bill clarify that prior to receiving the counseling certificate, lenders may order certain services, such as an automated valuation model, credit report or preliminary credit review, as long as the borrower is not charged for those services if the borrower chooses not to get a reverse mortgage. • NRMLA supported a draft HUD proposal to allow income from accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to be used in qualifying borrowers for FHA-insured mortgages, including HECMs. “Permitting the inclusion of income from an ADU in the assessment of a HECM borrower’s income will more realistically calculate the borrower’s effective income and potentially expand program eligibility in a prudent manner,” NRMLA said in its comment letter to HUD. FHA Hires New Deputy Assistant Secretary Sarah Edelman joined the Federal Housing Administration in March as deputy assistant secretary for single-family housing after working for five years at Fannie Mae as senior director of environmental and social impact. In her new role, Edelman will have direct supervision over the HECM program. She replaces Julienne Joseph, who became a senior adviser for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge. A Roundup of Issues and News for NRMLA Members By Darryl Hicks Darryl Hicks Hey, Members 8 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
Senior Home Equity Levels Fall Slightly to $12.39 Trillion After experiencing phenomenal growth over the past decade, housing markets nationwide are cooling down. As a result, homeowners 62 and older saw their housing wealth fall slightly in the fourth quarter of 2022 to an adjusted level of $12.39 trillion, according to the NRMLA/RiskSpan Reverse Mortgage Market Index (RMMI) published on April 25. The NRMLA/RMMI decreased slightly in Q4 2022 to 433.25, from a recalibrated level of 434.32 in Q3 2022. This is the first drop the index has seen since 2011. (The recalibration came about after RiskSpan updated prior quarterly home equity levels due to changes in the Federal Reserve data it uses.) The key takeaway is that older homeowners are still sitting on $12.39 trillion in housing wealth that can be used strategically as part of a retirement plan to enhance retirement security. Census: Disasters Displaced 646,443 Older Americans in 2022 Fires, tornadoes, hurricanes and other natural disasters are occurring with greater frequency, which has led the U.S. Census Bureau to start collecting data to better analyze the impact they’re having on homeowners. According to the latest statistics, an estimated 3.4 million adults, including 646,443 individuals age 65 and older, were forced to evacuate their homes in the past year because of a natural disaster. Hurricanes accounted for most of the displacements for older adults (405,440) followed by floods (117,900), fires (91,699), tornados (70,673) and “other” (124,271). Most displacements were short term, according to the Census Bureau, which reports that 32 percent of individuals age 65 and older returned home within a week of evacuating. However, 24.8 percent of the survey takers reported that they never returned home. Hey, Members Change lives and make retirement better for seniors. Our accurate and thorough closing process provides peace of mind for lenders and mortgage brokers. AllegiantReverse.com Toll Free: 844.808.8299 Reverse Done Right. Experienced Professionals Matched to Your Needs National Title and Settlement Services Hassle Free Assistance and Training GFE Fee Calculator 24 Month Tax History Property & Demographic Profiles REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 9
MATT NEUMEYER GRADUATED from Georgia Tech in 2003, and soon after, he interviewed for a job with Smith Barney. “I wanted to be a financial adviser, but they wanted me to mine data with no clear path to advance,” he says. When he decided to pursue a different career path, Neumeyer’s parents referred him to a family friend who owned a company called Shelter Mortgage in Atlanta. Because he didn’t have mortgage experience, Neumeyer was given a mentor who could teach him the tricks of the trade. The mentor originated forward mortgages and reverse mortgages, but it was the latter that Neumeyer gravitated toward. He was soon preparing proposals and applications, but he wanted to originate reverse mortgages on his own. “I saw an opportunity, so I asked him if he could focus on forward mortgages so that I could specialize in reverse mortgages and master them,” Neumeyer says. For the next eight years, he did just that, working for several mortgage lenders until he decided in 2012 to open his own company, Premier Reverse Mortgage (PRM). Reverse Mortgage magazine sat down with Neumeyer to learn more about PRM, his work ethic and what he has learned over the past 19 years that has made him successful. Reverse Mortgage: What motivated you to open your own mortgage brokerage company after being an originator for so many years? Matt Neumeyer: Around the time that the subprime fiasco hit, I envisioned Shelter Mortgage becoming a bigger player in reverse. However, Shelter didn’t have the proper training to underwrite HECMs and wasn’t enamored with the product. They were also unwilling to let me establish new wholesale relationships so we could deliver loans to more than one investor. That prompted me to change companies. For the next year, I worked for a lender that had a somewhat unique structure. I received no support from corporate. I was my own boss, so it was like owning my own mortgage brokerage business within the company. That worked out fine until I got a call from the owner one day saying the company had lost its license to originate loans in Georgia, where I am based. It completely caught me off guard, and so in my mind, I thought to myself, “I have to start controlling my own future.” I hung my license with one more company, but in the meantime, I started forming Premier Reverse Mortgage, which was a good thing because that company exited the reverse mortgage business three months later. The other factor that led me to strike out on my own is that a few years earlier, the Federal Housing Administration lowered its net worth requirements for third-party originators, so a significant barrier to entry to originate HECMs was eliminated. RM: What resources did you have to create a business from scratch? MN: I bootstrapped it with my own 401(k) and did it on the fly because I had no other choice. I had a mentor when I started at Shelter who taught me the reverse mortgage and forward mortgage game from a loan officer perspective. He now works for me, so we’ve come full circle from him being my mentor to being an employee. I had no resource guide. I made mistakes and learned from them. I’ve been a leader my whole life and am a go-getter, so a lot of it came naturally. RM: What can you tell us about PRM? MN: My vision all along was to be a midsize national lender, hovering around the top 25 in volume. To stay relevant in this industry long term, you must be nimble because the only constant is change. I’m still young, Matt Neumeyer, President and Founder, Premier Reverse Mortgage By Darryl Hicks Matt Neumeyer From the Top 10 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
From the Top From the Top continued on page 12 relatively speaking, and I plan to stay in this business for another 20 years. My target is to be a top 25 retail originator, in the 20 to 30 loans a month range. Right now, we’re doing anywhere from five to 15 loans a month. We have seven employees, down from ten before volumes declined. We intend to cycle back up once the Fed starts cutting rates. Long term, I see us writing 20 to 30 loans a month with 12 to 15 employees. We’re licensed in 15 states. We’ll probably grow to approximately 20 in the next few years. The states we’re licensed in cover 80 percent of the HECM volume in the country, so the last 35 licenses would be just to pick up a small percentage here and there. We only originate reverse mortgages, and we’ll stay that way. I have no desire to dabble in forward mortgages. It’s a different animal as everybody knows, and we have enough trouble keeping up with all the nuances in reverse. RM: Does most of your business come from Georgia? MN: A significant amount of it does, but our top states by revenue in 2022 were California, Georgia, Florida and New York, in that order. We’ve targeted the highest-volume states on purpose. Georgia closes less than 100 reverse mortgages a month. And when you’re competing with large companies on television, it’s hard to get ten of those 100. When the television ads became mainstream, I pivoted and decided I can’t do the boots-on-the-ground thing anymore. I needed to come up with an idea to generate leads with a more national focus if I wanted to be a bigger player. I was successful at doing that in 2019. That’s when I started to hire people because I was taking on more than I could handle myself. I hired a processor and then started looking at loan officers. That’s where we are today. RM: What are some lessons you’ve learned over time that have helped make you more successful? MN: Time management is important. Reverse mortgages require a certain amount of labor, and you can’t automate those hours. You need to be efficient and develop a process that can be easily repeated. You can delegate, but everyone right now is cognizant that they need to be lean. It’s tough to be profitable right now and so you can’t overstaff to handle the highest-volume months with ease. Over 19 years, I’ve learned to pre-underwrite loans because it made me a more successful loan officer with a pull-through rate of 80 percent. I do that for every loan that comes through our door. I spend an hour looking at every document, reviewing the loan software, and visiting Zillow and other valuation sites. I look at Google Maps for images of the home. I look for red flags to catch them early and avoid wasting time on a loan that’s going nowhere. The other thing would be saying “no” to unpleasant customers. A not insignificant percentage of borrowers are not happy with their lives, for whatever reason. If somebody comes to us and they’re just generally angry and not pleasant, we cut ties with them because it saves time and eliminates headaches. RM: How do you generate most of your loan production? Business referrals? Advertising? Social media? MN: I’m in the process of getting us more diversified. We have a boots-on-the-ground loan officer here in Georgia who goes to all the senior networking groups. PRM does a good bit of web advertising. We tested videos on YouTube and are likely to keep playing around with that channel. We’ve sent out direct mail with limited success. We may try television advertising, but right now, we’re focused mainly on the web. We avoid social media due to the perception of our industry. I’m not a fan, particularly if people can post comments. What you learn is that it is very difficult to generate traditional HECMs at an acceptable cost per acquisition. RM: You’re based in Georgia but licensed in 15 states, including California. Does your marketing strategy differ at all by geographic location? MN: As far as our approach from state to state, we’re mainly an inside sales team. The people I have working as loan officers come from an environment where they’re used to selling over the telephone or on Zoom. Our approach to how we deal with people is not necessarily based on where they’re located but rather on the hours that they’re likely to be awake. We also have one loan officer who speaks Spanish because we get quite a few inquiries from people whose first language is Spanish rather than English. RM: I guess what I am trying to say is how do people in California find a small mortgage brokerage in Georgia? REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 11
From the Top MN: The reverse mortgage business changed significantly in the late 2000s when you no longer had to have faceto-face applications or counseling sessions. Big national players sprung up, and you had to adapt or be eaten. You can do Google advertising, whether it be somebody doing it for you and putting you on a list in that specific state, or you could do a direct search yourself where your ads are shown to people in certain states. When you do web advertising, you can direct them to wherever the people are located. We get people who call and say, “I want somebody in this city in California to meet with me,” and we tell them we can’t do that because we don’t have loan officers everywhere. In those instances, we tell them that we can handle this by Zoom video to give them that in-person, kitchen table feel. It’s 2023, and most people can find you on Google to do their due diligence. If they feel like they can trust you, and they like your loan officer, they don’t really care where you’re located, or that you are a broker. RM: After being in the reverse mortgage business for almost 20 years, what are the most important lessons that you have learned? MN: I wrote a couple of things down, and it’s mainly from a macro view of our industry. It’s important to have a thick skin. Many people have a negative perception of reverse mortgages, including the people in your professional network and family members. I am a big believer that the traditional HECM pie is what it is until we change the way that we’re perceived. When you take out HECM-toHECM refinances, the volume has gone from roughly 50,000 loans a year down to 30,000 as a result of the upfront mortgage insurance premium changing back to two percent on all HECMs. That’s not a good sign when we’ve had higher home values than ever before and many years of extremely low rates. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development isn’t throwing us a bone when it comes to the present structure of the product. I’ve heard people say that we need to get more word out and more distribution among forward mortgage companies. If you look at the list of originating entities in this business, there are plenty of forward companies with 500 to 2,000 loan officers on staff, and yet it’s not changing the volume that we do as a business. Something else must change. I think it’s partly the high closing cost barrier. If we could have a HECM Saver product or some other low-cost option with a market rate, that would be great. But I also think the industry has to either go head-on and push back on the negative perception issue, or we need to rebrand ourselves with a different product name, whether it’s home equity conversion mortgage or something else. I think we have the right people in this industry to figure it out—it’s just a question of getting together and executing a plan. From the Top continued from page 11 NATIONWIDE REVERSE MORTGAGE FIELD SERVICE EXPERTS FOR OVER 30 YEARS 1.800.639.2151 www.nfronline.com Inspections - Preservation - Insurance Loss Inspections - Violation Management - Vacant Property Registrations - Utility Management - REO Services - Special Services 12 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
WHEN CLIENTS ARE in distress but end up with a reverse mortgage that keeps them in their beloved homes, Laura Kiel feels fulfilled. “I have so many clients who live on Social Security income,” Kiel says. “They don’t have any other money. It’s hard, but a reverse mortgage can change their life. It’s a life-changing product.” Kiel is a pioneer. Introduced to mortgages in the mid-1990s, she has focused exclusively on reverse mortgages since 2007. She and her husband, both Seattle natives, created a family business that’s respected in the community where they were born and raised. The journey began in 1992 when they were in a desperate situation. Both are natural entrepreneurs, and like most entrepreneurs, they suffered a business failure and didn’t know where to turn. A friend suggested that they look into an independent mortgage broker who was hiring and training. From there, the work was too interesting to leave behind. “The first couple of years, I felt like I was getting a college degree,” Kiel says. “There was so much to learn. It was new, stimulating and interesting. I was meeting some amazing people.” The learning curve was steep. She remembers telling an underwriter that she was close to being ready, which the underwriter misinterpreted to mean she was going to closing. “That’s how I learned,” she says. “It was one mistake at a time. I would find out what the problem was, and I would go to the person I thought could give me the answer.” Kiel worked for the broker for two years, and then for an attorney who owned title, escrow and mortgage companies. If she stayed two years, the attorney told her he would help her establish her own business. “I worked with him and learned all the ins and outs of not just mortgages but also title and escrow,” she says. In her early years, loan originators would hand her blank applications with the customer’s signature and tell her to finish the rest. CRMP Reflects on Long Career A Chat With Laura Kiel, Kiel Mortgage, Tukwila, WA By M. Diane McCormick Laura Kiel CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table Across the Kitchen Table continued on page 14 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 13
CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table Kiel knew she could do better, so in 1996, she and her husband, Dan, founded Kiel Mortgage. By around 2004, some of her loan officers were doing reverse mortgages. She recognized their benefit for customers and started working on them herself. Soon, she switched her work model. The Kiels’ daughter, Michaela Eulberg, took over the forward mortgage side of the business while her parents focused exclusively on reverse mortgages. When Kiel entered the industry, mortgage brokers didn’t need a license to do business in the state of Washington. Though it didn’t make her “beloved in the industry,” she served on the Washington State Mortgage Broker Commission from 2004 to 2007, helping lead the enactment of a consumer protection package that included licensing requirements. To her, it was common sense. “I felt it was utter stupidity that you could do the most important transaction of your life on a home with someone who had no licensing of any kind at all—no background check, no anything—but you couldn’t get your hair cut or your fingernails painted unless that person had a license,” she says. “It seemed ridiculous to me.” Kiel earned her CRMP around 2017. “You don’t accidentally maintain the CRMP,” she says. “You have to be proactive and take the continuing education courses.” The CRMP means something to people, Kiel adds. “It means that you cared enough to become the best you can be,” she says. “They feel like they’re in good hands.” The CRMP teaches not only the technical skills needed to work in reverse mortgages but also the soft skills of customer service, which boil down to “communication, communication, communication, communication.” “Be available,” she says. “I tell my customers that I’m available 24/7. I don’t care if it’s 1 o’clock in the morning. If you have a question, I do not want you to worry. That’s my job. I don’t want you worrying about something that takes me 30 seconds to answer.” She built the business through advertising and lunch-and-learns. Those methods waned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, her office gets calls from those who hear of Kiel Mortgage through word-ofmouth and referrals. Across the Kitchen Table continued from page 13 Precise Control. Expert Execution. ASSET MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS Five Brothers’ reputation for integrity, accuracy, and reliability has been built upon a relentless drive towards customer satisfaction. For over 55 years our expertise in nationwide field services, advanced technologies, and unrivaled Reverse/HECM/FHA expertise continues to build value for our customers, while improving communities across the country. Experience the Five Brothers difference… stronger results from the ground up.™ www.fivebrms.com • 855.552.8020 Inspections • Property Preservation • Violation Resolution Utility Management • Registration Services • Hazard Claim Repairs REO Asset Management and Disposition Safe. Sound. Secure. 14 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table One accountant referred an older woman who came to Kiel in tears. The woman and her sister owned a home together, but the sister had Alzheimer’s disease and went into a care facility, taking her resources with her. The woman’s home mortgage exceeded her Social Security income. Kiel helped the woman secure a senior citizen discount on her property taxes, and a Life Expectancy Set-Aside covered her insurance payments. A cash payment provided the financing to spruce up the home with new carpets and paint, and a $100,000 line of credit helps supplement her Social Security. “That allows her to live in her sweet, beautiful home with her little, sweet dog and live a comfortable life on her Social Security income,” Kiel says. “That example illustrates how beautiful reverse mortgages are.” Now that reverse mortgages are getting positive media attention, the potential audience has grown to include financially savvy people, Kiel says. “With our economy today, a reverse mortgage is more important than ever,” she says. “Older adults don’t have as many options. Their equity is locked up in their homes, and they don’t want to sell, so the answer for many is a reverse mortgage. It’s a sound financial move to use the equity in their home rather than draw down their investments for those that are lucky enough to have them.” The staff still includes the Kiels’ daughter, who continues to work on conventional mortgages while managing the business. Kiel Mortgage is associated with CMG Home Loans. Looking back on her career, Kiel says she feels blessed. “I have to shake myself when I think that, over the years, we have put hundreds and thousands of people into homes, and we have created wonderful income for hundreds of people,” she says. Partnership you can trust. Dedicated to never competing with you - your success is our success. Ready to experience the difference? Visit Celink.com Deep Industry Experience 96% Borrower Satisfaction Rating Independence and Alignment with Clients Robust Specialized Technology Reverse Mortgage Is Our Core Competency © Celink. All rights reserved. NMLS #3020 - http://nmlsconsumeraccess.org. Compu-Link Corporation dba Celink (WA license# CL3020 and 603 018 607) REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 15
RISING TO THE TOP 18 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
Rising to the Top continued on page 19 OVER THE PAST few years, the top ranks of the reverse mortgage industry have opened their doors to a number of women. Marion McDougall has been leading the reverse mortgage servicing company Celink since 2021. Kristen Seiffert has been a top leader at Finance of America Cos., parent of Finance of America Reverse (FAR). Also in the C-suite is Melissa Macerato, chief revenue and marketing officer for Longbridge Financial since 2012. And many women are climbing the ladder behind them. At Longbridge, for example, 62 percent of managers are women, according to Macerato. “Continuing to give women the opportunity to earn and hold significant senior-level roles and providing them the opportunity to lead and help form the culture of the industry are critical,” she says. Indeed, female leaders argue that the reverse mortgage business can be a good fit for women. They cite its flexibility in comparison with the forward mortgage sector. Some note the characteristics that make a successful reverse lender dovetail with the strengths of many women. “You have to be able to use both sides of your brain,” says Melinda Hipp, CRMP, an area sales manager for Mutual of Omaha Reverse Mortgage, referring to the logical left side of the brain and the more emotional right side. “There are very few people who can do that. I’m not saying men can’t. But I do find women are better able to switch from left to right brain.” Nonetheless, the industry’s female leaders see room for improvement, particularly in reverse mortgage’s ability to attract and promote other women. They see mentoring as a critical component of that effort. “It can be a long-term mentoring relationship, or it can be one conversation,” says Kellan Brown, senior vice president of business development and strategic partnerships at FAR. “The most important thing is what you take out of the conversation and what you do with the knowledge shared with you.” Female Reverse Mortgage Executives Discuss Their Careers and Offer Advice for Other Women By Joel Berg REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 19
Rising to the Top continued from page 19 Formalizing Mentorship Brown has been a strong believer in mentoring almost since the start of her professional career, which was in sports marketing. She described the atmosphere as combative and unhealthy. “This experience showed me firsthand how important it is to foster a supportive and empathetic work environment, which, ultimately, sparked my deep commitment to mentorship,” Brown says. One of her biggest mentors was Brett Musgrove, founder and president of construction company PrimeCo, where she worked before coming to FAR. She didn’t see Musgrove as a mentor at the time, but he offered executive leadership coaching and encouraged her to reach out to other female leaders in the male-dominated construction industry. “At times, it was challenging,” Brown says. “But with Brett’s guidance, I strengthened my hard and soft skills and learned how to build a cohesive sales team that could work together and still be competitive.” Today, Brown strives to formalize mentorships wherever she goes. At FAR, the mentorship program she helped create tracks how often mentors and mentees meet and whether they are meeting the goals they set. The insights allow FAR to improve the program and demonstrate its value to senior leaders, Brown says. “We have seen increased retention and more promotions across the organization, in part, because of this program,” she says, noting that mentorship programs also support external business goals related to product innovation and meeting the financial needs of retirees. “To accomplish this, you need to support the hardworking, dedicated employees within the organization,” she says. “If employees are not supported by their leaders and aren’t offered the appropriate tools and resources, they are likely not going to show up as their best selves.” Kellan Brown Senior Vice President of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, Finance of America Reverse Kellan Brown Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Kellan Brown was in a high-level business development position at a firm in the construction industry. “I was slated for a promotion with even more responsibility—and big implications for my family and me,” she says. “Once the pandemic started, things changed for me. I mulled over this move with my husband, a first responder, who teaches me every day about the importance of committing to helping people and being there for one another.” As she thought about it more, she knew she needed to take on a larger caregiver role and take a step back from her career. “While this change was difficult and somewhat unexpected, I wanted to get out there and check in with my network of close friends and mentors to see what opportunities might be available,” she says. Through her networking, she connected with an executive at Finance of America Reverse (FAR) who gave her insights into the industry. “Once I understood the product and how it could truly change someone’s life for the better, I accepted the role at FAR, buckled down and started building initiatives that would differentiate us from other lenders in the space,” she says. Brown now leads FAR’s retirement strategies division and executes strategic initiatives aimed at empowering financial professionals with the resources and tools needed to best serve clients as they plan for retirement. A big part of her job is connecting with people across the financial services industry so they can learn more about FAR and what the company is working toward. “I have been with FAR for a little over two years, and it has been a very rewarding experience,” she says. 20 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023
To make an impact more widely, Brown serves on the board of the FinServ Foundation, a nonprofit that offers mentorship programs, educational resources and community initiatives tailored for future financial advisers. “Students may know they want a career in this industry, but I believe that FinServ provides the guidance and tools needed to be successful,” she says. Brown cites a study by mentoring technology company MentorCliQ showing that more than 84 percent of Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. use mentoring programs, and mentorship programs are available at 90 percent of Fortune 500 companies with female CEOs. “I cite this report often because it shows how top companies can unleash the untapped value in mentorship,” she says. Overcoming Hesitation McDougall has benefited from formal and informal mentors during her career in the mortgage business. Now, as CEO of reverse mortgage subservicing provider Celink, McDougall prefers an informal approach. “I definitely am a big believer in figuring out what works best for people,” she says. She also is working to figure out what works best in a post-pandemic environment where more people than ever are working remotely. Celink’s workforce is 99 percent remote, a situation she acknowledges has benefited women in leadership roles if they have families. Rising to the Top continued on page 22 Melinda Hipp, CRMP Area Sales Manager, Mutual of Omaha Reverse Mortgage Melinda Hipp Melinda Hipp, CRMP, was born in Texas and has lived in San Antonio since 1992. “I studied music in college, then went onto earn a master’s degree in arts administration and an MBA,” Hipp says. “My whole plan growing up was to have a career in the music performance industry.” She worked for several nonprofits in San Antonio, where she had moved for her husband’s music career before meeting someone in the forward mortgage world. “I felt it was a job I could do well and one where I could use my MBA,” she says. Reverse mortgages in Texas were not available until the late 1990s or early 2000s. “My mortgage coach at the time was encouraging me to have a niche. His niche was subprime. I did not have an interest in that. But I liked working with older people, and that led me to reverse mortgages,” Hipp adds. “It was a need. It was something people wanted, and there weren’t many other people doing it.” In fact, she says there was really no one in Texas to learn from. “So, I went on my own to a NRMLA conference in Denver and really enjoyed the people I met there,” Hipp recalls. “I went back to my mortgage company and told them this is what I would really like to do.” They thought it would be a good idea, but she would be the only one doing reverse loans. The mortgage company was eventually sold to a bank that ended the reverse business. “I wanted to keep doing them, so I went to another company and opened a branch that did both forward and reverse mortgages,” she says. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she made the jump to Mutual of Omaha. “They wanted somebody to grow their reverse business in Texas,” Hipp adds. “We now have a team of 19 covering Texas and Oklahoma.” REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY–AUGUST 2023 21
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