Jan-Feb2020

Talking Heads We had one loan officer who had expressed an interest in selling reverse mortgages. She had a strong work ethic. She took the applications, assembled all the paperwork and processed her own loans, and then submitted the files to HUD for the conditional commitment. We ran a credit report to make sure there were no liens on the property. It was straightforward. The biggest issue that we had back then was the title, because reports occasionally showed mortgages on the property that should have been extinguished. Banks were merging or failing—the savings and loan crisis was going on—so records were not always accurate. Our reverse mortgage clients were much older than what we were accustomed to, averaging anywhere from their mid-70s to early 80s. A lot of times they were getting a reverse mortgage for home health care. It required a more hands-on approach compared to the people we serve today. RM: Did things ultimately work out for your friend? VW: Yes, but it took her nine months to close on the reverse mortgage. That’s a long time for someone who’s living on a fixed income to wait. RM: When did you switch from operations to selling reverse mortgages? VW: My loan officer handled the loan file until it was submitted to HUD for a conditional commitment. I handled everything from then on. After the loan was approved, we’d both attend the closing. After she went on maternity leave, nobody else really knew the origination process but me. We had to figure out something, because the bank loved the product. So, I covered for her and started taking applications. Then she decided that she wasn’t coming back. I could not continue doing both jobs, because I was still operations manager. We had a few loan officers who expressed an interest in selling reverse mortgages. I trained them and managed them, while still doing my operations job. We did not think of reverse mortgages as a sales product. It was a product to help seniors. That’s how we thought of it, until we realized that we could do more with it. The maximum claim amount was around $152,362 and the closing costs were, a lot of times, more than what the person purchased their home for. It was difficult for Talking Heads continued on page 14 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2020 13