How to Help the Servicing Process Expert Offers Tips for LOs to Ensure Smooth Post-Closing Process By Thomas A. Barstow LESLIE FLYNNE HAS been involved in the reverse mortgage business long enough to know that great customer service continues long after a loan closes. As senior vice president of reverse mortgage servicing at Mutual of Omaha Mortgage, she encourages loan officers (LOs) to understand the details of the servicing side of the transaction so they can let borrowers know what to expect. Without that guidance, borrowers might end up confused and frustrated as they work their way through the various details required to maintain a reverse mortgage loan in good standing. “I’m here to ask for you to help prepare the borrower for servicing,” Flynne says during a presentation in June at the NRMLA Western Regional Meeting in California. Her presentation titled, “A Loan Officers Guide to Reverse Mortgage Servicing,” lasted about an hour and detailed questions that LOs should expect from their clients. And some of those concerns might not appear until years—or even decades—after a loan closes, which leads Flynne to offer a practical piece of advice from the start: Always leave clients with your personal email address and cellphone number because if a question arises after a loan closes, they are quite likely to reach out to you for clarification. “You will always be their trusted source of advice,” she says. Good Information An LO who is well-informed about servicing is critical for many reasons but especially because borrowers trust what LOs tell them. If that information isn’t correct, the servicer must resolve the misunderstanding. “They trust you so implicitly that if we say one thing that in their mind differs from what you told them, they absolutely do not believe us,” Flynne says. “Borrowers become more Leslie Flynne 28 REVERSE MORTGAGE / SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2023
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