January-February 2020 Volume 13, No. 1 The official magazine of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association Bursting Onto the Scene The search for new products is nationwide as lenders seek alternatives to HECMs INSIDE: Counseling: Integral to Getting P. 2 2 Deals Done The Rules of the Game P. 2 6 Mid-Atlantic: A Rebound Afoot P. 2 9 www.nrmlaonline.org Here’s to making 2020 your best yet! Want to know how? Work with Finance of America Reverse LLC (FAR). You don’t become America’s #1 wholesale reverse mortgage lender* for the past nine years without a track record of helping partners succeed. FAR is commited to providing our partners with unparalleled customer service and continued product innovation for your client’s retirement success. » Deep industry experience » Industry Innovation » Ultra-competitive turn times » HomeSafe®: a continuously improving proprietary product suite See how FAR we can take your business! Partner with Finance of America Reverse LLC, the nation’s #1 wholesale reverse mortgage lender.* (855) 778-7226 | www.farwholesale.com * Since December 2011. Based on trailing 12 months’ endorsement volume. Source: Reverse Market Insight. For business and professional use only. Not for consumer distribution. ® This material is not from HUD or FHA and has not been approved by HUD or any other government agency. The HomeSafe® reverse mortgage is a proprietary product of Finance of America Reverse, LLC and is not affiliated with the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. Not all HomeSafe® products are available in every state. Please contact us for a complete list of availability. ©2019 Finance of America Reverse LLC is licensed nationwide | Equal Housing Opportunity | NMLS ID # 2285 (www.nmls.consumeraccess.org) | 8023 East 63rd Place, Suite 700 | Tulsa, OK 74133 | AZ Mortgage Banker License #0921300 | Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act | Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee #23647 | Kansas Licensed Mortgage Company | Massachusetts Lender/Broker License MC2285: Finance of America Reverse LLC | Licensed by the N.J. Department of Banking and Insurance | Licensed Mortgage Banker -- NYS Banking Department where Finance of America Reverse is known as FAReverse LLC in lieu of true name Finance of America Reverse LLC | Rhode Island Licensed Lender | Not all products and options are available in all states | Terms subject to change without notice | For licensing information go to: www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org January-February 2020 Volume 13, No. 1 Contents PUBLISHER The Rules of the Game Peter Bell Features [email protected] Trainers offer tips on Bursting Onto the Scene SENIOR EDITOR 18 dealing with HECM myths Thomas A. Barstow The search for new products is nationwide as lenders seek By Thomas A. Barstow [email protected] alternatives to HECMs ASSOCIATE EDITOR By Joel Berg Darryl Hicks [email protected] 26 Counseling: Integral to Getting Deals Done MANAGING EDITOR 22 Experts review the pitfalls and offer advice to ensure a Sam Hoffmeister [email protected] smooth process By Mark Olshaker COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Jessica Hoefer A Rebound Afoot STAFF WRITERS 29 Jamie Hopkins Industry trends have lenders seeking new products and Mark Olshaker markets in the Mid-Atlantic PRESIDENT By Joel Berg Stephen Irwin NRMLA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS Columns Talking Heads Scott Norman, Finance of America Reverse Reza Jahangiri, AAG Vanessa White, Eastern 3 In Reverse Regional Sales Manager, DESIGNER Proprietary products dominate Emily Graf By Thomas A. Barstow Reverse Mortgage ADVERTISING SALES Funding LLC Natalie Matter Bellis Steve Irwin: Moving Forward By Darryl Hicks [email protected] 5 Leading change must inform your strategy Reverse Mortgage is the official publication of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. The magazine is published every Jamie Hopkins: Retirement Prep 12 two months. For inquiries regarding association 6 membership and/or magazine subscriptions, please Is your client’s Social Security taxable? call Darryl Hicks at 202-939-1784. Advertising and editorial inquiries should be directed to Max Lalwani ([email protected]) Borrower Chronicles and Sam Hoffmeister (samuel.hoffmeister@ 32 theYGSgroup.com), respectively. Life of leisure By Mark Olshaker Association & Subscription Contact: National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association 1400 16th St., NW, Suite 420 Departments Washington, DC 20036 202-939-1760 CRMP: Across the [email protected] 2 Scribes Kitchen Table Industry: www.nrmlaonline.org Meet this month’s contributors Consumers: www.reversemortgage.org Securing a client’s Advertising & Editorial Contact: The Biz happiness: A chat with National Reverse Mortgage 8 Lenders Association Get up to date on the industry, the press and Lance Canada, CRMP 1400 16th St., NW, Suite 420 Washington, DC 20036 Washington, DC By Mark Olshaker 202-939-1760 Member News/Who’s Who in Reverse ©2020 National Reverse Mortgage 34 Lenders Association 16 36 Numbers The HECM portfolio Scribes Darryl Hicks (Talking Heads, p. 12) is vice president, Meet This Month’s Contributors communications for NRMLA where he writes the Weekly Report and administers the CRMP program. He roots for the Steelers Thomas A. Barstow (In Reverse, p. 3, and The Rules of the Game, and the Phillies and reads mysteries as he rides the Metro to work p. 26) is the senior editor for Reverse Mortgage magazine. He is each morning. a licensed loan originator (NMLS # 1590611) for Virginia-based City Lending Inc. and has had a 34-year career in journalism that Jamie Hopkins, Esq., LLM, MBA, CFP®, RICP® (Retirement has included being a reporter, writer and editor in Maryland, Prep, p. 6) is director of retirement research at Carson Wealth North Carolina, Pennsylvania and New York. He currently teaches Management and a finance professor of practice at Creighton journalism at Gettysburg College and writes for various business University’s Heider College of Business. He is author of publications. He is a former president of the Pennsylvania Society Rewirement: Rewiring The Way You Think About Retirement. of News Editors and a former president of the Associated Press Media Editors in Pennsylvania. Mark Olshaker (CRMP: Across the Kitchen Table, p. 16, Counseling: Integral to Getting Deals Done, p. 22, and Borrower Joel Berg (Bursting Onto the Scene, p. 18, and A Rebound Afoot, Chronicles, p. 32) is a best-selling author of fiction and non- p. 29) has been a B2B reporter and editor for more than 20 fiction and an accomplished researcher in the areas of crime and years, both in-house and freelance, covering finance, healthcare, medicine, as well as a documentary film writer and producer. environmental regulation and general business news for local, Olshaker has written 16 books, including Law & Disorder, with regional and national publications. Most recently, he was editor former FBI Agent John Douglas, and Deadliest Enemy: Our War of Central Penn Business Journal and Lehigh Valley Business in Against Killer Germs, with Dr. Michael Osterholm. His latest Pennsylvania. He also has taught writing and communications book with Douglas, The Killer Across the Table, was published by at York College, Millersville University, Gettysburg College and Harper Collins in 2019. Their book, Mindhunter, is the basis for Harrisburg University. the current Netflix series. Nationwide Property Inspections and Preservation Inspections Violation Management Foreclosure Registrations Preservation Utility Management Special Services Insurance Loss Inspections Vacant Property Registrations REO Services Protecting Your Properties. Protecting You. • NFROnline.com • 800-639-2151 2 REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2020 In Reverse Proprietary Products Dominate This Issue of Reverse Mortgage Attempts to Get Behind Some Trends By Thomas A. Barstow PREPARATIONS FOR THIS FIRST ISSUE in the new year Support for products that veer from the traditional began in the fall, as we were listening to the experts who were HECM program remains strong, especially as new features pointing to a future where proprietary reverse mortgages continually are added and more states clear the way for the would continue to garner increasing market share. products, Berg reports. Writer Joel Berg set out to get more details about these “That is an area where I suspect there will be continued trends, and his efforts begin on p. 18 with the cover story improvement, as people look at how to make their for this issue. Those in the know discuss how and why offerings different,” John Button, president and CEO of proprietary reverse mortgages will continue taking off, as ReverseVision, tells Berg. the traditional HECM market slowly rebounds. Eric Ellsworth, consumer direct sales channel leader Michael McCully, a partner with Naples, FL-based for Reverse Mortgage Funding, noted that the newer New View Advisors, told Berg that the next year to 18 products will have far greater appeal in some markets. “We months could see proprietary products making up more want to be able to help more people and make the product than 50 percent of the reverse-lending market. more accessible to the masses,” Ellsworth tells Berg. “This is what should be happening, and I think HUD Proprietary products come up in nearly every article welcomes it. The market seems to be embracing it, too, in this edition. Reverse Mortgage Associate Editor Darryl and the culture of the industry is going to be staked to Hicks