I love my job and I love the reverse mortgage product. I love sitting at the kitchen table with my clients, listening to their stories and watching their reaction when I show them what a reverse mortgage can do. I have been in this industry for a decade, and I marvel at where we are today, compared with when I started. Today, we have myriad options that we can offer to our clients. Ten years ago we had only one question: “Do you want the monthly adjustable or the annual adjustable?” and to be honest, it wasn’t much of a question, since the annual offered comparatively little in terms of principal limit. No one ever took it.

Today, we can offer a monthly adjustable with varying margins and costs, an annual adjustable with lower caps, and a fixed rate that has great value in a purchase or when there is an extreme mandatory obligation. We can help seniors out of foreclosure, swing their monthly “income” by thousands, help them buy a second home, or upsize or downsize to their dream home. A reverse can help them afford health care, long-term care insurance, or protect their heirs with life insurance; the options are endless. The caveat to all of this is there is a greater need for integrity than ever before. While I firmly believe that the vast majority in our industry work with a conviction of integrity, I want to remind all of us that what we are doing is a vital and life-enhancing task for our clients. We must constantly remind ourselves the senior’s needs come first. Integrity should be the hallmark of our work.

I believe there are two aspects of integrity that we need to diligently uphold. First, we must assert in all of our transactions a sense of personal integrity in gathering information and determining suitability. Second, we must have a desire to promote the integrity of our industry. This comes primarily through knowledge of our product and an intense desire and ability to educate others. These two aspects of integrity will allow our personal production to thrive and our industry to further its quest to educate those with limited knowledge of our product.

Personal Integrity We are in a service industry; we are helping seniors achieve financial goals. Many of them come to us because they are in trouble and as such are desperate to solve a problem. As professionals, we must always ask the question of suitability: Does our product meet the need in the best way possible and am I thinking in the long term to make sure the solution lasts? For many seniors, a reverse mortgage may be their last option, and we always need to consider this before our own compensation. It has been my experience through the years that any loan turned down because of a suitability concern brings two to three loans from other sources. Call it karma; you are far better off walking away from a loan that does not make sense than confirming an incorrect direction. FINRA gives a good rule for us to live by: “An originator must have a reasonable basis to believe that a recommended transaction, product or strategy is suitable for the customer, based on the information obtained through the reasonable diligence of the originator to ascertain the customer’s financial information.” The idea is that we spend the time and ask the questions needed to make sure we have a full picture before making any recommendations.

One of the things I love most about my business is the discovery stage. FINRA describes it as “reasonable diligence,” but I just love to hear senior clients tell me about their lives and show me their homes. Their sense of pride helps me connect with them as they point out the various things they love about their homes. At the same time, I need to make sure they are being honest with me about their challenges and financial picture. Some feel a sense of embarrassment about needing a reverse. It is my job to get the walls to come down so they share freely their joy, pain and desires.

I make it my goal to be willing to ask the questions that give me insight and yet might cause me to question the move. I try to do it in an unthreatening conversation that gains the information needed to assess the value of a reverse for any situation. My conversation encourages clients to relax, trust me and be comfortable sharing what they may find embarrassing. I find it important to reassure them that they are not unique and that many are in identical situations. Using phrases like “what many of my clients have experienced…” and “I just did a loan where…” allows the client to maintain their dignity and be more willing to share their concerns. I always ask what other solutions they have tried and how that worked out for them. It helps me to see how diligent the senior has been in seeking out solutions, and it helps me understand the pain they feel with regard to their situation. Overall, I try to build a relationship with my clients so that I can be assured that the product is the right choice for them. I often find that the relationship comes with thank-you notes, Christmas cards and referrals.

The greater challenge comes when I am not taking an application in person, something I try hard to avoid. I live on Cape Cod and am licensed in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Georgia. With the exception of Georgia, I will drive to meet with clients whenever possible. When face-to-face sessions are not possible, I take the time to ask the same questions and be as diligent as I would be in person to discover what is really going on, assuring myself and my clients that this is the best product for their situation. Having this conversation over the phone poses a greater challenge, but it is worth the time and effort to confirm our personal integrity.

It is important for me to be able to lay my head on my pillow at the end of the day and be able to say to myself, “I did some good today; there is a senior whose life is improved because of my service to them.” I am not unique; I know many who share this mindset. Our industry and the seniors we serve are better off because of it. Integrity truly must be the hallmark of our work.