on the Ethics Committee, I’ve seen it. Being out in the industry, I’ve seen it. I feel that it just has done such a disservice to our industry. In my 30 years, we went from this little niche product no one heard about, and now financial planners are accepting it as an option for their clients and want to learn more. But when misleading information is put out in our communities, it chips away at people’s trust in the reverse mortgage product itself. It chips away at all that knowledge we’ve tried to convey to them over the years and creates a lot of questions, concerns and confusion. It’s wrong, and it makes us look bad. I think this is probably one of the most damaging practices that we’ve dealt with in this industry and in the association, and it distracts people from our mission to help educate seniors so that they can meet their retirement goals. RM: As you know, most of the bad ads we see on the Ethics Committee are distributed by nonmember companies. NRMLA will submit them to federal regulators if the Ethics Committee directs us to. Your last job focused on compliance. Would you like to see FAR and the other wholesale lenders take a more proactive role in policing bad ads? SC: While it is impossible for lenders to successfully monitor every advertisement and communication sent out by third-party originators (TPOs), I would like to see all wholesale lenders provide the guidance and tools necessary to ensure the TPO is educated about how to promote reverse mortgages in a responsible and compliant manner. Providing those resources is half the battle, especially when working with new entrants to the reverse mortgage industry. RM: What’s the one piece of advice you would give to someone who wants to get into the reverse mortgage business? SC: Don’t forget why you’re here. Remember why you entered this industry in the first place and keep that focus. One of my true passions in life is helping seniors, and that was true even before I got into reverse mortgages. I’ve kept pictures of me with my borrowers. Many of them are framed, and some of them date all the way back to 1996. I look at those pictures, and I remember the borrowers. I won’t name names, but I had this one borrower—let’s just call her Maggie Smith—and her cat’s name was Marmalade, who was the love and the joy of her life. And all these years later I still remember her and so many others. I look at those photos regularly, because it’s easy to get swept up in the metrics, the dollars, the units and making important, difficult decisions. Ultimately, this is about people, and I always try to keep that in the back of my mind. Every decision I make, every question that hits my desk that has a loan number attached to it—there’s a real person associated with that file who has their own unique story. From the Top continued from page 13 From the Top Financing Seniors’ Independence ServingUtah and Idaho for Over 20Years We opened our doors in 1999 to provide local homeowners and those wishing to be homeowners good quality mortgage loans with no hidden surprises or costs. We pride ourselves on being customer oriented and find loans that are tailor made for our clients. We added the reverse mortgage loan to our great line of product offerings and have been providing the people of Utah and Idaho this loan as another mortgage available to meet whatever financial need arises. We continue to remain committed to our clients’ mortgage financing needs, and our variety of all residential mortgage loan products makes us a great company to add to your network of professionals. FSI Mortgage Independence Square 111 East 5600 South • Suite 102 Murray, UT 84107 • NMLS #4398 www.fsimortgage.net 1-800-808-3066 14 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JULY-AUGUST 2022
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