I’d like to thank those readers who took the time to respond to the survey in the last issue of TRR. Your contribution was most appreciated. We saw participation from professionals across all aspects of the reverse industry.

In preparing the questions for our survey, we tested some assumptions and attempted to verify our views on education and training in the reverse mortgage market. We also sought to gain insight into how industry participants felt about their preparedness for HUD’s pending Financial Assessment.

The survey revealed an overall need for a continuous stream of education and training, not only in regard to Financial Assessment, but across a broad spectrum of reverse-related topics. Of particular interest was the fact that 81 percent of our respondents defined themselves as loan originators, and 73 percent of respondents said their sole focus was on reverse mortgage origination.

As a longtime participant (this is the definition of “seasoned,” not “old”!) in the reverse mortgage space, the overall survey results provided some clarity as to the developing maturity of our workforce. The lack of a need for HECM basics and a greater need for more detailed, focused education relating to transactional, sales and marketing processes on a continuing basis was expressed in many of the freeform responses.

From the results, we attempted to determine if there was an identifiable baseline for the complexity of the financial analysis education that is needed to support professionals in this space. Judging from the responses, education and training on basic credit report and tax return analysis is not necessary, as many reported a high level of familiarity with such documents. Considering the fact that approximately 45 percent of the respondents reported five to 10 years of reverse origination experience, one could assume that many people received their base training from the fundamentals of borrower qualification undertaken during training for forward loan origination prior to their switch to reverse only.

What surprised us most was the plethora of comments expressing a greater need for guidance regarding communication with the borrower and resource material to help explain the Financial Assessment process to clients. There were also a number of responses about concerns with how to quantify the results of the assessment into a meaningful conversation with the borrower and how to determine next steps with both the borrower and the underwriter when reviewing the assessment results.

So, where do we go from here? It appears that a majority of the respondents acquired their initial reverse product training from their companies and regularly participate in continuing education classes, most of which were conducted in a webinar format. Given the length of time most of the respondents have been originating reverse mortgages, it would be fair to assume that most of that company training came from Financial Freedom during its high point and the large banks that were once involved in the space. Sadly, those companies no longer actively participate in this sector and the financial and staffing resources that supported the training of so many in this space have ceased to exist. But have they been replaced?

As we continue in this series of articles regarding the implementation of Financial Assessment, we will take a closer look at the components necessary to elevate the skills and knowledge of professionals in this business. We will also focus on communication, message delivery and the ability to provide meaningful dialogue  with borrowers as additional support to our readers.