From the Top MIKE KENT WAS recently elected to a fourth term as co-chairman of NRMLA, and he takes the role seriously. Along with his co-chair, Scott Norman of Finance of America Reverse, Kent has played a key part in shaping NRMLA’s advocacy efforts during one of the most challenging periods in the history of the HECM program. Kent became president of Liberty Reverse Mortgage in April 2015. Before that, he spent four years at Reverse Mortgage Solutions Inc. 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. Reverse Mortgage magazine sat down with Kent to get a better understanding of what it’s like to serve as co-chair of NRMLA, what his priorities for the association will be in 2023 and where he sees the marketplace headed. Reverse Mortgage: The theme for this issue is sales and marketing. As someone who has been in the mortgage business for 30-plus years and guided Liberty Reverse Mortgage through other challenging periods, what advice would you give to our readers to help them succeed in 2023? Mike Kent: Regardless of changes to interest rates and macroeconomics, the demographic we serve hasn’t changed. We still have 12,000 people turning 65 every day. We still have roughly 26 million households headed by someone who is 62 years of age, and slightly over half of those households have no mortgage debt. Even in a rising rate environment, which effectively lowers principal limit factors, there’s still a significant amount of equity that can be tapped into through a reverse mortgage. Originators need to keep in mind there’s still a huge market out there that’s untapped. We might have taken a little bit of a break during the past two years because of the unprecedented level of refinancing, but now is the time to get back to the basics of acquiring new reverse mortgage customers, showing them the benefits of reverse mortgages and creating better retirement outcomes. It would be helpful for loan officers to focus on building those relationships with attorneys and financial planners—and maybe small commercial banks and credit unions—to get Mike Kent, President, Liberty Reverse Mortgage By Darryl Hicks Mike Kent From the Top continued on page 12 REVERSE MORTGAGE / MARCH–APRIL 2023 11
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