active in NRMLA, and while serving on the board, he joined the effort to create a new credential for reverse mortgage professionals—the CRMP. In 2010, he joined about 15 other reverse mortgage professionals and went to Orlando, FL, for three days. Together, they sequestered while they devised a plan to launch a professional designation and devise its testing requirements. On the scale of big decisions, taking out a reverse mortgage is akin to buying a home, and clients need someone they can trust. Martirano says that his experience goes a long way toward instilling that trust, but the CRMP is “the topping on the cake.” “Especially with reverse mortgages, people put a lot of faith and trust in you and your knowledge,” he says. “They feel a lot more comfortable knowing that you have that experience, and you have that CRMP designation.” In 2010, Martirano had been embargoed from getting his CRMP for the first year after he helped establish the credential, but he went for it as soon as he could, in 2012. “The designation of CRMP, I felt, would give me a competitive edge,” he says. “The customer can see that I’m dedicated through the program. We have to go through continuing education. We have to take a test. It shows that I’m committed to the industry.” He has seen changes in reverse mortgages, as the advent of financial assessments has disqualified many applicants. But reverse mortgages continue to help many people. Today’s typical client uses the reverse mortgage to pay off existing loans or finance repairs. Homeowners frightened over the dire circumstances at nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in Martirano’s territory of New York state, use the process to fund home healthcare. “Everyone has their own story,” he says. “I like listening to them.” One client did all the traveling she’d always wanted to do, finally seeing the Great Wall of China. She also helped her grandchildren go to college. “Her sentiment was, ‘Let them enjoy me now, while I’m still here,’” he says. One widower didn’t share his goals for the money, but when Martirano visited a month later, a luxury convertible was parked in the driveway. “He was 80 years old,” says Martirano. “I guess he wanted to drive around in style.” Another widow, whose reverse mortgage funds were meant to help her husband get a college degree, used the money after his death to earn that degree herself. Martirano learned in a newspaper article about that dream come true. “You get a lot of nice stories, but unfortunately, a lot of people are in tough situations,” Martirano says. “Still, they’re so relieved. They’re so grateful when they get this money. Now, they can stay in their house, and they can live a lot more comfortably.” He rides with the pendulum swings of the industry. As banking and regulations tightened in the late 2000s, and reverse mortgaging itself became more conservative, Martirano decided to close his company in 2017 and join American Advisors Group (AAG), to “let them handle the back office and the licensing.” In 2018, he made the tough decision to leave reverse mortgages entirely. That lasted fewer than six months. From there, he worked for two years with Reverse Mortgage Funding before joining Homebridge Financial Services, Hackensack, NJ, in late 2021. At Homebridge, where he serves as reverse lending sales manager, he can help clients find solutions from a range of available products. Along the way, Martirano has made friends throughout the reverse mortgage field. He helped found Independent Reverse Mortgage Originating Companies (IROC) as a platform for smaller companies to share ideas and challenges. “That’s how this industry is,” he says. “It is competitive, but I’ve made so many friends. It’s not cutthroat. It’s a very friendly atmosphere. We all have the same goals. We’re all trying to help people out.” Martirano and his wife of 27 years have three sons. One is in college, studying music at Belmont University. The other two, a high school freshman and junior, are heavily involved in sports, including travel hockey. Martirano grew up as an athlete, playing competitive hockey and baseball in college. As a certified hockey coach, he was a USA Hockey Coach of the Month in 2017. “I have a different approach to coaching,” he says. “I’m more laid back, especially with the younger kids. I try to teach life lessons, trying to associate the hockey discipline with life discipline.” CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table REVERSE MORTGAGE / MARCH-APR I L 2022 17
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