After spending 42 years in mortgage banking and 10 in the reverse mortgage industry, John Smaldone is joining Hanover Financial Services as executive vice president to provide consulting services to companies looking to get into the reverse mortgage industry.
During his mortgage banking career, Smaldone has owned two mortgage banking firms, Florida Southern Mortgage Corporation and Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corporation, which was sold to a bank in 1991. Most recently, he was the senior VP and head of the reverse mortgage division at AAXA Discount Mortgage, a lender based in Wilmington, NC.
According to Smaldone, there is a demand for people who can help lenders adjust to the new regulatory environment in the reverse mortgage industry.
“Companies are either doing some reverse mortgages or want to enter the arena for the first time,” he said to RMD in an email. “I am trying to find the right match where I can be a consultant for only one firm on a more permanent basis.”
John Dale, Founder and CEO of the Spiriter Companies, has been working with Smaldone since March 2010 to assist in recruiting new loan originators and helping to identify new procedures and policies.
“The only issue plaguing the reverse mortgage industry is the lack of qualified consultants with specialized focuses as one would traditionally find in the IT industry,” Dale told RMD. “As the reverse mortgage industry matures, I suspect we will find a larger stable of area specific talent from which to choose.”
