Thank you to everyone who attended the 2024 Annual Meeting.
Registered attendees can access copies of the PowerPoint slides by following the directions below.
Accessing Session Slides
- Login to NRMLAonline.org with your username and password
- Once you’re logged in, come back to this page and look for the Documents tab located at the top of this page next to the Registration Fees tab
- Once you click the Documents tab, the session slides will be displayed in the same order they were presented in the agenda.
If you need assistance, please email Darryl Hicks, VP, Communications, at dhicks@nrmla.com.
Launi Cooper has had an extensive career in the Real Estate Industry, beginning back in the late 1970’s working as a student for her mom. 
Shannon is a co-founder of Reverse Focus, Inc. and a regular commentator and Editor-in-Chief of HECMWorld.com. Drawing from his prior experience as a reverse mortgage originator and working in the financial services industry, Shannon has covered reverse mortgage news stories since 2008 when he began HECMWorld Weekly, the nation’s only weekly podcast for reverse mortgage professionals. In 2011, he launched a series of weekly video episodes, The Industry Leader Update with commentary and analysis focused on all things reverse mortgage. Shannon firmly believes an educated and empowered sales force is key to expanding reverse mortgage acceptance and increasing our relevance in the conversations surrounding retirement.
Christina Harmes Hika, CRMP, has a deep-rooted passion for empowering retirees to enhance their financial futures. Christina’s journey in the mortgage and real estate industry began at 16 in her father’s office, where she later completed her first reverse mortgage under the guidance of her father, Scott Harmes, and her mentor, Monte Howard (RIP). The visible relief the borrowers had at the closing was career-changing for her. This experience ignited her lifelong commitment to transforming retirements and legacies for the better with Reverse Mortgages. Throughout her career, Christina has been a top originator, both as a solo originator and as part of a team, consistently delivering outstanding results. She has played a pivotal role in building three successful reverse mortgage divisions while training and mentoring hundreds of loan officers across the industry. In response to popular demand, she founded Reverse Mortgage Coach in 2020, a coaching company dedicated to helping loan officers master the intricacies of reverse mortgages and grow their businesses.
Bruce Simmons is the reverse mortgage manager with American Liberty Mortgage, Inc. in Denver, CO. He has been specializing exclusively in reverse mortgages since January 2003 and has been in the consumer finance and mortgage business since February 1987. Bruce is fond of saying that he’s closed over 1,000 reverse mortgages and has never had a customer, or family member, ever tell him that they regretted their decision to do the reverse mortgage. He is proud of this because he makes 100 percent sure that everyone who does a reverse mortgage with him understands the pros and cons of exactly what they are doing. Bruce loves working with retirees and Baby Boomers to help educate them. Whether they take out a reverse mortgage or not, he makes sure that they understand how they work. Bruce loves what he does and loves helping people.
Steve Irwin oversees the association’s initiatives to serve as an educational resource, policy advocate and public affairs center for consumers, lenders and related professionals. His background includes experience with strategic planning, organizational design, portfolio acquisition, risk management and quality control. He received his B.A. from Grinnell College and his MBA from the University of San Francisco.
Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing Commissioner U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, DC
Jim Cory is a mortgage entrepreneur with 25 years of experience building successful, high-growth companies in the reverse mortgage industry. As Managing Director – Reverse at Guild Mortgage Company, Jim is a leader of the company’s reverse mortgage division and is working to expand Guild Mortgage’s reverse presence. Jim has held a variety of senior leadership positions at several mortgage companies, including Cherry Creek Mortgage, Seattle Mortgage, and most notably, Fannie Mae. In 2008, he also founded Legacy Reverse Mortgage, a distinguished mortgage originator that he later successfully sold. Since 1998, Jim has been an active member of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association and currently serves as Vice Chair of its Board of Directors, Chairs the Education Committee, and serves on the Ethics Committee.
Michael Kent has served as President of Liberty Reverse Mortgage since April 2015. He now serves as Senior Vice President, Reverse Asset Management and Industry Relations for Liberty’s parent company. Before joining Liberty, Kent spent four years at Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. (RMS) as President of Loan Originations. In addition to his reverse background, he has over 30 years of “forward” mortgage experience and has held leadership roles across various lending functions, including sales, operations, and secondary markets. He currently serves as Chairman of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. 
Dr. Christopher Mayer has led Longbridge’s growth from a startup company in 2013 to the second-largest reverse mortgage lender and the largest wholesale lender in 2023, with a 22% HMBS market share for newly originated loans. He has guided the construction and funding of new proprietary reverse mortgage products and securitizations. From 2018-2022, Chris helped manage Longbridge’s growth in funded loans from $377 million to $2.12 billion, propelling the company to become the industry’s fastest-growing major reverse mortgage lender. 
Sarah Wheeler is the Editor in Chief at HW Media. She joined HousingWire in 2013 as the sponsored content editor and went on to be the magazine editor and managing editor before assuming the EIC role in 2020. Her previous experience includes work in advertising, corporate communications and newspapers.
Wayne M. Stanley is the owner of Bowe Digital, a marketing agency offering custom services for small businesses with hundreds of clients all around the United States. Bowe Digital works with businesses of all shapes and sizes on website creation, email marketing, social media, video, design, and much more. Before founding Bowe Digital, Wayne worked at the American Land Association (ALTA) in Washington, D.C., where he helped to develop the Homeowner Outreach Program (HOP) and grew the Title Action Network and ALTA’s social media presence. Wayne got his start in marketing and communications after college as a staffer for Senator Richard G. Lugar in the United States Senate. He served as a communications director and deputy campaign manager.
In his role as Wholesale Training Director at Mutual of Omaha Reverse Mortgage, Craig Barnes, CRMP, provides training for all reverse wholesale partners. Barnes is a regular speaker at NRMLA events and has been a Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional (CRMP) since 2010. He serves on the Independent Certification Committee, which oversees the CRMP designation, and on NRMLA’s Education Committee. Barnes has been in the reverse space for 20 years and a trainer for more than 30 years. 
Jim Brodsky is a founding member of the Washington, DC law firm of Weiner Brodsky Kider PC, who advises clients on strategic business initiatives, federal compliance and regulatory matters, mergers and acquisitions, asset purchases and sales, and secondary mortgage market transactions. As a former HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary, he has deep experience in FHA and Ginnie Mae (as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) requirements, issues, and opportunities, and also is Co-General Counsel of NRMLA. Jim is a Director of Enterprise Community Development, the nation’s fifth-largest affordable housing developer and community owner with well over a billion dollars of investments in almost 13,000 homes with more than 21,000 residents in 112 communities in four mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia. 
Joel focuses on the representation of banks, savings associations, mortgage banking companies and their holding companies and affiliates. His practice embraces a variety of matters relating to mortgage banking, including the marketing, origination, servicing and secondary market disposition of mortgage loans, with an emphasis on reverse mortgages. Joel is Co-General Counsel of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association and serves on several committees, including Ethics. Before joining Weiner Brodsky Kider PC, Joel served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation, the nation’s largest reverse mortgage lender and servicer.
David Berenbaum serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Counseling at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Office of Housing Counseling’s mission is to ensure that families have the knowledge they need to obtain, sustain and retain their housing via HUD’s network of over 1,650 housing counseling agencies and their Certified Housing Counselors. The Program’s far-reaching outcomes annually impact over one million consumers and support numerous departmental programs, including the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) single-family housing program. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, DAS Berenbaum collaborates with HUD’s leadership, professional staff, and partners to provide the high impact services to ensure that every American has a place to call home and the ability to achieve their financial dreams. He previously served as the chief executive officer of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation and has held executive positions with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, the Equal Rights Center, the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, and Long Island Housing Services.
Rob Cooper is the National Purchase and Builder Leader at Longbridge Financial. He is responsible for building Longbridge’s Strategic Business Development division of the nation’s largest builder and real estate brokerage companies. Rob brings over 20 years of experience to the Longbridge team, with his career in the reverse mortgage industry dating back to 2003. Most recently, Rob served as the National Sales Leader for Purchase Financing products at Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF). Before joining RMF in 2014, Rob held positions such as Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic region at Security One Lending, National Director of Business Development at One Reverse Mortgage, and Sales Manager at MetLife Home Loans, a division of MetLife Bank, N.A.
Jeff Cota has over 17 years of experience originating reverse mortgages and over 20 in the mortgage industry. In 2016, Jeff earned the Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional (CRMP) designation, the reverse mortgage industry’s highest credential. During his career, he has focused on educating and collaborating with industry peers to empower numerous families, financial advisors and real estate professionals with a deeper understanding of the advantages offered by the reverse mortgage program. Jeff joined CrossCountry Mortgage a little over a year ago and before that, he was employed at HomeBridge Financial Services and Pure Mortgage. 
Christine Jensen and her husband, Dana, live in Arvada, CO, a community she has called home nearly all her life. They have four grown children and four grandchildren. Community involvement is a cornerstone for Christine, and she serves her community in many ways, from her political involvement to her various volunteer roles at the Arvada Chamber of Commerce as well as other organizations. Christine has spent more than 40 years in banking and finance, specializing in mortgage lending for the past 30 years. She is a Certified Reverse Mortgage Professional, a Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist, a Certified Senior Advisor, and a Producing Branch Manager for Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation in Olde Town Arvada.
Dan Hultquist has been writing and speaking on reverse mortgages since 2008. Dan is best known for writing the book Understanding Reverse, which is now in its 10th edition. In 2022, he released the mobile app, RapidReverse®, which generates up-to-date HECM principal limits for refinances and purchases. In 2023, he published Navigating Reverse, the first guidebook for existing HECM borrowers, their family members, and surviving spouses. In 2024, he teamed with industry veteran Jeff Birdsell to begin building REVERSE plus, a point-of-sale service that brings education and sales together. His resources are used by lenders, financial planners, real estate professionals, attorneys, regulators, and even foreign countries.
Jim McMinn is the Director of Training at Longbridge Financial, LLC. An industry veteran, Jim brings 25 years of experience in sales, training and leadership roles and has worked exclusively in the reverse mortgage industry since 2002. Throughout his career, Jim has worked with several major mortgage lenders before joining the Longbridge team. In his role with Longbridge, Jim specializes in teaching others about all things reverse – the products, the history, the regulations, and his proven sales techniques. He has a passion for building relationships and takes a special sense of pride in coaching Longridge’s training team.
María Paloma Silva de Anzorena is a Lead Financial Sector Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), where she focuses on Housing Policy and Finance in Latin America and the Caribbean. She brings expertise in housing finance and urban development markets to her role. Previously, she served as the Minister of Housing in Mexico and as the Deputy General Director of Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal. The IDB collaborates with organizations, like Ginnie Mae, to address financial, social, environmental, and regulatory challenges in the housing sector, aiming to increase affordable housing supply and improve access for households
Byron Torres is the founder and CEO of Reachality, an AI tech company on a mission to revolutionize the mortgage, legal, and political sectors with cutting-edge artificial intelligence solutions. With a track record of success as an entrepreneur and a published author, Mr. Torres brings a wealth of expertise to the table, particularly in the realms of mortgage and reverse mortgage technology and marketing. In his latest venture, Reachality.COM, Byron is making waves by boldly introducing AI into the reverse mortgage landscape, redefining industry standards and setting the stage for a future where technology and innovation seamlessly blend to enhance these critical sectors. Byron’s passion for entrepreneurship, combined with his dedication to pushing the boundaries of AI, underscores his commitment to shaping the future of these industries.
As Chief Appraiser, John is responsible for quality control and compliance, including appraisal escalations, vendor quality control, client escalations and mandatory reporting. He is a Certified Residential Appraiser in 11 states, a Registered Property Tax Agent in Arizona, and a Qualifying and Continuing Education Instructor for multiple course providers. Dingeman is the Past President of the National Association of Appraisers and the Coalition of Arizona Appraisers. He has also served on several boards, including the Arizona Board of Manufactured Housing, Phoenix Village Planning Committee, Homeowners Association and a charitable organization supporting foster children in Arizona called Arizona Helping Hands.
Erik has over 25 years of experience in the mortgage and valuation industry and was the Founder & CEO of Landmark Network, a leading appraisal management and technology company acquired by Class Valuation in 2018. Prior to the acquisition, Landmark earned its place on the Inc 5000 four times. Erik served as COO of Specialty Teams for Class Valuation until he sold his partnership interest in 2021 and launched a consulting practice, E.R. Morin Strategies, Inc. where he is an active investor and advisor for leading mortgage lenders. NMP Magazine named Morin a Mortgage Professional to Watch and HousingWire awarded him the 2023 Vanguard Award. He has served in numerous leadership roles with national non-profits and industry trade associations including the MBA, National Appraisal Congress and he was named to the NRMLA Board of Directors in 2023.
For more than two decades Joe Pravettone has been deeply involved in every aspect of the valuation industry. Starting as an independent fee appraiser, he has amassed invaluable experience as he established high-performing teams while working at national AMCs. His career continued as he assumed the role of Chief Appraiser at American Advisors Group (AAG), the nation’s largest reverse mortgage lender at the time, where he led appraisal operations compliance with industry standards. Now serving as the Chief Appraiser at Atlas VMS, Joe brings his wealth of expertise to drive excellence in appraisal quality.
Tara Ballman is a nationally recognized aging-in-place expert who is passionate about connecting and supporting professionals serving older adults. She is the author of three books on financial retirement issues, two books on aging-in-place issues, and podcast co-host of Aging in Place Conversations. For years, Tara and her family struggled through the evolving stages of her father’s declining health. Unexpected illnesses, unforeseen situations, and a fear of the future were their reality, with so many questions and nowhere to turn. After her father passed, she had a desire to help other families navigate through the stages of aging and proactively plan for future needs, regardless of what life throws at them. Tara currently serves as Executive Director for the National Aging in Place Council, where she brings professionals and communities together to champion aging-in-place through collaboration, education, and advocacy.
With over 20 years of experience as an executive in the construction industry and 15 years as a life and family coach, Danniel Fuchs founded Multi-Gen Homes to champion multi-generational living, driven by transformative personal experiences. His company focuses on helping seniors age in place, either with their families nearby or supported by other adults in an intergenerational setting. Through a comprehensive approach that includes matching, financial assessment, construction, and coaching, Danniel strengthens family financial resilience, preserves family legacies, and fosters bonds that turn the challenges of shared living into opportunities for growth and deeper connection.
Ryan Schmidt, VP of Partner Engagement at Finance of America (FAR), is a seasoned industry professional with nearly 15 years of experience. Ryan has served in a wide range of sales and marketing roles – from starting work as a loan officer meeting in-person with clients, to supporting call center management, and then leading consumer direct marketing at FAR before becoming the company’s Wholesale Marketing Director in 2020. Ryan offers a unique perspective on the inner workings of the industry, including his hands-on experience training sales and marketing teams as well as insights into different reverse mortgage products and their features.
Gail Balettie is the Senior Vice President of Borrower Care and Client Satisfaction for Celink. Before Celink, she spent 12 years at Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corp. where she initially served as First Vice President, National Production Operations Manager, before moving over to servicing in 2011. Her reverse mortgage servicing experience includes leading borrower-facing functions, such as the call center, line of credit draws, payoffs, and payment plan changes, as well as end-of-loan functions, like HUD claims and assignments. Balettie has over 30 years of mortgage operations and management experience, including 18 years in the reverse mortgage space. Balettie co-chairs NRMLA’s Servicing Committee and participates on the HUD Issues Committee. Balettie attended the University of Texas in Austin, majoring in Business Administration.
Robert Sivori possesses over three decades of experience in the mortgage banking and servicing industries, having held pivotal leadership roles in esteemed companies. Currently, he serves on the Board of Directors of Ibis Software and as a Senior Advisor at Brean Strategic Advisors, collaborating with a team of experts to provide advisory services to clients seeking to assess asset values, manage internal and counterparty risks, and innovate new mortgage product lines. In his previous roles, Mr. Sivori served as Interim Chief Operating Officer at RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation, where he played a key role in the company’s transformation and subsequent sale to a large, publicly traded REIT. From 2019 to 2021, he led as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Celink, spearheading a strategic plan to modernize technology and talent. Prior engagements include serving as co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Reverse Mortgage Funding LLC and its parent company until 2019. He has been a longstanding board member of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association since 2003, underscoring his expertise and contributions to the mortgage industry.
Jared is an industry expert who started as an underwriter in reverse mortgages in 2008 before transitioning to servicing and servicing oversight in 2012. Jared was responsible for helping create, enhance, and lead oversight programs for some of the largest issuers and servicers in the space. Jared is proficient with regulations for government-insured loans, well versed in late-stage default servicing, and has extensive experience with contractual claim evaluation. Before joining RMI, Jared held various leadership roles at Bank of America and Reverse Mortgage Funding.
Laura has been dedicated to helping seniors accomplish their retirement goals since joining Urban Financial Group in 2007. Now known as Finance of America Reverse, Laura currently oversees production and daily management of the wholesale and retail underwriting teams, as well as managing the underwriting scenario desk and condo team.
Carmalon Batiste has 24 years of experience in the forward and reverse mortgage industries. She is an active member of NRMLA’s HUD Issues Committee and serves on the Board of Directors. Carmalon joined Traditional Mortgage Acceptance Corp. (TMAC) as the Underwriting Manager in 2021 and transitioned to her current position of VP of Operations. Before joining TMAC, Carmalon functioned as Underwriting Team Lead, Operations Manager and AVP–Operations at Plaza Home Mortgage.
Elly Johnson has spent over 45 years in mortgage banking, including 32 years in an executive capacity with several of the industry’s largest reverse mortgage originators and servicing providers. She now uses her years of experience and knowledge of the reverse mortgage industry to assist others in all aspects of the business as the owner and President of All Reverse Pro. She is an active NRMLA member, industry speaker, co-chair of the NRMLA HUD Issues Committee, and a member of the NRMLA Executive Committee and Board of Directors. In 2017, Elly received a “Career Achievement Award” from NRMLA for her thoughtful and tireless leadership in the reverse mortgage industry.
Kelly has been working in both the forward and reverse mortgage industries for over 30 years. She is a subject matter expert in the HECM program partnering with sales, operations, underwriting, closing and insuring loans. Throughout her career, Kelly successfully led operations and risk teams, mentored underwriting schools to develop their abilities to risk assess with efficiency, strengthen their product knowledge, and successfully mitigated loan sales and audits both internal and external for many leading organizations. Without hesitation, she offers her expertise on many of NRMLA’s committees. She has a great passion for helping educate and grow the purchase program to be seen as a mainstream product. She is a subject matter expert for the purchase product partnering with many successful loan officers to build their careers solely based on this product. She is seen as an advocate to make sure the senior is educated correctly to understand the HECM program from origination through servicing of the loan, so they can age in place or buy their final primary dream home.
Shirley is the VP of Underwriting, Originations for PHH Mortgage/Liberty Reverse. Her previous experience is with First Federal Bank, where she was VP of Residential Lending Operations, which included oversite of underwriting. She is the former VP of Retail Underwriting for Freedom Mortgage, leading underwriting on a national level. Shirley has over 30 years of experience in the mortgage lending field and has her FHA DE and VA LAPP certifications. Her earlier career included time spent with EverBank/TIAA Bank as a Credit Risk Manager and Underwriting Supervisor assisting retail, correspondent, wholesale, and consumer direct lending. Shirley also worked as a Credit Risk Specialist at Bank of America achieving a SASE (Signature Authority Service and Enforcement) level 6 that included a $10 million underwriting signing authority.
Sarah Young has served as the Director of Operations at Mutual of Omaha Reverse Mortgage since January 2023. Before that, she was Retail Operations Manager. Prior to joining Mutual of Omaha, Young was the reverse mortgage operations manager at First National Bank of Layton, Proficio Mortgage Ventures, LLC and Resolute Bank.
