ELEADAH KEMP’S FAVORITE moments arrive courtesy of emails from clients astounded that they didn’t have to make their first mortgage payment. Most couldn’t imagine that their home offered a ticket to financial security. “I always tell them that I look forward to the time they don’t have to make that mortgage payment, and one day, they look in their bank account and see their extra money,” she says. Kemp is a service-oriented lifelong learner who obtained her CRMP in October 2023. With seven years in the industry, she is leveraging the power of reverse mortgages to help revitalize an underserved area of Indianapolis and show homeowners how to get more value from their homes. Undoing Imbalances Kemp tells friends to call her EJ. She was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Milford, CT, which to her is “still my favorite place in the country.” She studied business administration in college and switched to economics before stepping away for personal reasons. In the late 1990s, she was unhappy in her work for a global logistics company when a high school friend asked if she was interested in mortgages. She didn’t know anything about that field but saw an opportunity and jumped in on the selling side. During the housing collapse of 2007–08, when “everything went haywire,” she found herself studying reverse mortgages for a client. She became intrigued but then exited the mortgage industry to join a travel business. She was working at Angie’s List when a colleague who left for reverse mortgages suggested Kemp would be a good fit, reigniting her previous interest. She bristled at the way economic forces were treating retired homeowners as their income leveled off while taxes and the cost of living kept rising. The demographic was overlooked in policy circles and steeped in fear caused by misinformation and stigma, she believed. “I wanted to be able to be a voice to help people learn about reverse mortgages and feel comfortable with them, even if they didn’t get one,” she says. “They can just feel comfortable with the fact that it is a safe option.” She found herself in the right place with Finance of America Reverse (FAR), which provided a supportive CRMP Works to Serve Underserved Communities A Chat With Eleadah Kemp, CRMP, Finance of America Reverse By M. Diane McCormick Eleadah Kemp CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table continues on page 12 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MARCH-APRIL 2024 11
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