Nov/Dec 2021 RMM

RM: FAR is one of eight companies that offer private-la- bel reverse mortgages. What distinguishes HomeSafe from its competitors? KS: We have always charted our own path and pushed inno- vation. When we launched HomeSafe in 2014, the initial vol- ume we did was relatively small, but it gave us time to refine our processes and learn to improve the product to meet larger sets of consumers. When the HECM program shifted in late 2017, HomeSafe was there to fill a void, and it really started to thrive at that point. We continue to have high hopes for our HomeSafe suite of products, which has been very success- ful so far in providing options to borrowers not well served by HECM. Our newest proprietary product, which we’ve deemed a retirement mortgage, is called EquityAvail. It’s the first of its kind, an innovative solution that really addresses a gap in the market that wasn’t addressed by HECM and the original HomeSafe. EquityAvail provides that extra loan-to- value (LTV) by combining a traditional forward mortgage payment for ten years that is typically about a third of what the regular forward mortgage payment would be and then automatically flipping to a reverse mortgage afterwards. By some estimates, roughly two million homeowners could benefit from this type of option in retirement. RM: Since your promotion to FAR president in 2016, what’s the biggest lesson you have learned? KS: I was a little scared to step into this lead role for the company, but I have had more fun than I ever thought possible. I have been given an opportunity to focus on the things that I care deeply about, namely helping people thrive. Finding a way to play for a bigger mission and vision and then empowering our team to achieve their goals through the work we do every day really underpins the success that we’ve had as a company. We’re very intentionally creating a relational organization versus a transactional one. It sounds simple, but it’s a big shift from how the mortgage industry, in general, has operated. Mortgages are very transactional, but when I look at the reverse industry my mantra is that the real work begins after a borrower’s loan has closed. Our industry is still paying a reputational price for the lack of real support historically given to borrowers while their loans were being serviced. I believe very passionately that we have to find ways to elevate the servicing experience. We have to find ways to create advocates and evangelists at each touch point, so that we can continue to be perceived as a trusted resource to borrowers, their estate and their heirs. I like to imagine how we could transform our industry perception if every heir who dealt with our industry at the time of payoff had a ten-star experience and walked away saying, “Oh my gosh, I didn’t know anything about reverses, but I just dealt with that industry, and it was phenomenal.” From the Top continued from page 13 From the Top 14 REVERSE MORTGAGE / NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021