FERNANDE MARIE BENCZE credits her diverse experiences in life and work for the skills she uses daily as a reverse mortgage professional. Consider her time as a young U.S. Army officer. After a childhood moving around as her father pursued a career in the automotive industry, she was offered a swimming scholarship to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After graduation, she served as an ordnance officer, responsible for the maintenance of her brigade’s equipment. In Germany, she began as a platoon leader, “a 23-year-old kid, working with 40-year-old guys who have been in the military for 15 or 20 years.” “It was a learning experience,” Bencze says. “You had to figure out your leadership skills. As a woman, especially, the best way to lead those folks was to listen to them, consider all of their experience and then educate them on how to do things differently or how to stay organized.” Out of the Army after five years, she went to Prudential, enjoying her work in sales and educating potential clients on how insurance and annuities could serve their needs. Later stints in automotive finance introduced her to credit reports and short-term loans. She was underwriting commercial real estate for Wells Fargo when a friend’s father was forced into caring for his bedridden wife. She thought a reverse mortgage might help pay for home care. As she learned more, she became intrigued by the possibilities and the clientele. “I like old people,” Bencze says. “They’re kinder, gentler. They’re willing to have a conversation with you. They’re willing to share their story. I just adore making a difference for them.” She enjoys empowering them to truly enjoy their retirement years. “It’s gratifying coming in and giving them the funds necessary to accomplish goals,” she says. Bencze started in reverse mortgages by notarizing loan documents and then processing them. Around 2006, she began originating loans. Her appreciation of working in broker environments, with their choice of lenders, led her to Alliance Reverse Mortgage. “If you have a client with a unique property, typically there’s a lender who’s a unique match,” she says. Her typical client is a 73-year-old woman who realizes she does not have the means to live the rest of her life as she had hoped. “People spend decades working and saving, and they are either forced to retire earlier than they want, or they get to that retirement goalpost and realize how expensive a gallon of gas is,” she says. “They think, ‘I can’t afford to go to lunch with my friends.’ They have beautiful homes. They’ve had them for decades. They’ve been frugal. They’ve done everything right. It’s just that the world moved on and inflation happened. They have big health insurance bills. Medicare is not cheap.” In recent years, Bencze has helped avert foreclosures for four clients. She calls them “stomach-churning, Pepto Bismol-gulping loans.” These are clients whose hard From West Point to Reverse Mortgages A Chat With Fernande Marie Bencze, CRMP, Alliance Reverse Mortgage By M. Diane McCormick CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table Fernande Marie Bencze 12 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MAY-JUNE 2024
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ1MzY1