Many of you know that I am selling my stock in Celink to a forward-thinking and innovative group of investors led by Jim Mahoney, Jason McNamara and Al Benedetti. To suggest there are multiple and mixed emotions around the writing of this Last Word is an understatement. I never thought I could feel so happy, sad and everything in between, all at the same time.
The sadness comes from knowing that in a year or so I will be departing an industry that
I have been madly in love with since attending my first NRMLA conference in Atlanta in 2004. It felt like nothing short of a calling; I was being presented with an opportunity to help build an organization and industry that would serve and protect our greatest generation, as well as those who would follow.
I write this from a plane returning from Austin, Texas, having recently attended the Texas Mortgage Bankers Reverse Mortgage Day. I was reflecting on how many people have dedicated their professional lives to helping seniors benefit financially and retire with strength and longevity. I have met so many wonderful, terrific people. The reverse mortgage industry is populated with men and women who are not just brilliant businesspeople, they are honest, ethical and deeply devoted to the seniors they provide with the financial comfort of a reverse mortgage. These people (first among them my son, Ryan) are the future of the industry and that future is very bright indeed. I will miss regularly interacting with all of them.
During one panel presentation in Austin, Joe DeMarkey, the co-chair of the NRMLA board of directors, described recent changes to the HECM program as taking us “back to the future.” His words caused me to wistfully think back to what our industry’s world was like six or seven years ago. It was, by present standards, a far simpler time: We had one investor (Fannie Mae); most of the products
were adjustable rate loans; selling loans at a premium was not in our vocabulary; we did not have an abundance of tax and insurance defaults; and we had never heard of appraisal-based claims.
Happiness comes from having lived through our industry’s “good old days” and now watching the next generation of industry leaders enthusiastically embrace the GNMA HMBS program and adapt to all of the market changes that have occurred. This new leadership accepts the program changes and understands that while we may indeed be going “back to the future,” the industry moves ahead with a stronger, more sustainable HECM program long into the future.
I started in the subservicing business on October 1, 1985, and this column will appear in the October 2013 edition of The Reverse Review. Is this coincidence? I see it as a wink from God. As news of the sale has traveled, I have been asked many times what I would change if I could live my life over again. My answer is always the same: “Not one thing!” The sum of every life experience has brought me to where I am today. I stand at another of life’s crossroads, stepping forward and confident that I have done my small part to help move the reverse mortgage industry to a very good place. Thanks for sharing this look back with me as I take the first steps on this new leg of my journey. God bless our industry and each of you.
