Reverse

NRMLA News

Written by Marty Bell, as originally published in The Reverse Review.

Western Regional Report: Industry Eagerly Faces the Future Just three weeks into the implementation of Financial Assessment, there seemed to be a reinvigoration of energy and renewed urgency for creative approaches to marketing and sales within the reverse mortgage industry. The 250 industry participants who gathered at the beautiful beachfront Hyatt Regency Resort & Spa in Huntington Beach, California, in mid-May for NRMLA’s Western Regional Meeting heard an emphasis on leaving the past of the product behind, embracing the advantages (particularly additional security) provided by the current product and the need for thoroughly educating the new, younger consumer base about the versatility of HECMs as a retirement funding asset.

In a session on changes in marketing approaches due to recent product alterations, Mary Smith of Liberty Home Equity Solutions, Teague McGrath of AAG and Sharon Robbins of RMS all confirmed that their companies are indeed reaching retirement plan-focused clients who are more savvy, more skilled digitally and more open to the idea of debt than targeted borrowers in the past. Cost is less of an issue to these potential borrowers since they are not desperate for cash. On the other hand, they are in no hurry to make a decision, so the loan process can take lender patience.

In a candid evaluation of the current state of HECM counseling, John Olmstead of HUD’s Office of Housing Counseling reported that better-qualified people are now being counseled and that the number of endorsements is getting closer to the number of counseling certificates issued.

Olmstead recommended that loan originators do a financial pre-screening of clients prior to counseling. “In some instances, you may find that what the client really needs is credit or debt counseling rather than HECM counseling,” Olmstead said.

The conference climaxed with a lively interactive session, “Sales Techniques and Strategy: What’s New?” conducted by Kimberly Smith and Tabatha Addison of AAG. The session concluded that the issue is not what’s new so much as what’s been lost: the ability of empathetic loan originators to listen patiently to their clients’ needs instead of assaulting them with an avalanche of facts and highlights about the reverse mortgage.

Members can download the presentation slides and audio recordings from the Western Regional Meeting by logging on to nrmlaonline.org.

NRMLA Welcomes New Public Relations Director

When NRMLA decided to create an in-house public relations department, CEO and President Peter Bell’s dream was to find someone with association experience, financial services experience and Capitol Hill experience.

When Jenny Werwa walked into NRMLA’s conference room, equipped with a resume that includes PR experience at the National Association of Realtors, the American Immigrant Lawyers Association and the office of California Congresswoman Jackie Speier, Bell had found a match. “I never expected we would not find the whole package,” he says.

Jenny will be leading the effort to execute “Help More People,” the 2015 public relations plan approved by the Board of Directors, which includes commissioning of new and needed research, aggressive press outreach and the creation of a National Reverse Mortgage Education Week.

On Behalf of the Industry: Members Supporting Public Relations Plan

In order to commission research to provide evidence of the success of reverse mortgages and also to grow our staff to fulfill members’ requests for new activities, NRMLA needed to reach outside its annual budget and solicit additional support from members’ companies. Thus far, more than 29 companies have signed pledges of financial support for these new efforts.

NRMLA wants to thank the following companies for stepping up to the plate for the benefit of the entire industry: American Advisors Group, Access Mortgage, Agency for Consumer Equity Mortgage Inc., Bank of New York, BayDocs, Celink, Circle Mortgage Corp., 1st Financial Reverse Mortgages, Franklin Funding, Greenleaf Financial LLC, Harbor Mortgage Solutions Inc., HighTechLending Inc., HomeChex, JB Nutter, Liberty Home Equity Solutions, Live Well Financial, Longbridge Financial, McGowin-King Mortgage LLC, Nationstar Mortgage, One Reverse Mortgage, Open Mortgage, Premier Reverse Closings, Retirement Life Funding LLC, Reverse Mortgage Advisors LLC, Reverse Mortgage Funding, Reverse Mortgage Solutions, ReverseVision, Senior Funding Associates, Southern Trust Mortgage, and Urban Financial of America.

Companies interested in supporting this effort should contact Marty Bell at [email protected].

 

Telling Our Story Recent program changes will help make reverse mortgages a safer option to leverage home equity and significantly improve retirement income security, according to Jamie Hopkins, Associate Director of the American College’s New York Life Center for Retirement Income, whose article appeared on Forbes.com, which averages more than 4 million visitors per month.

The article, titled “New Reverse Mortgage Rules Open Door to a More Secure Retirement,” nicely illustrates the message that NRMLA and the industry has promoted for the past two years: that reverse mortgages should be considered when developing a wealth management strategy, rather than used as an option of last resort.

Hopkins writes that, “There are a variety of strategic uses for reverse mortgages that might prove to be more beneficial to the homeowner, especially when it comes to retirement income planning.”

A standby line of credit can help retirees “avoid taking substantial withdrawals from an investment portfolio in the early years, thus allowing it to continue to grow,” or they can use a reverse mortgage and defer claiming Social Security benefits or an employer-sponsored pension plan.

Yet another course is that “some retirees are now taking a reverse mortgage to pay off their traditional mortgage, and at the same time creating a line of credit or generating additional income,” says Hopkins, who also serves as an associate professor of taxation at the American College and co-creator of the Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP) designation.

No More MOE In case you missed it, NRMLA distributed a member alert in May announcing FHA’s decision to rescind Mortgagee Letter 2015-03 and eliminate the Mortgagee Optional Election (MOE) Assignment option.

The text of Mortgagee Letter 2015-12 can be found at: portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=15-12ml.pdf

The text of FHA Info #15-33 can be found at: portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=SFH_FHA_INFO_15-33.pdf

Save the Date: Annual Meeting Bookmark your calendars now for the largest annual gathering of reverse mortgage professionals, the 2015 Annual Meeting & Expo. This year’s conference is taking place November 16-18 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Look for registration announcements in the coming weeks.

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