Reverse mortgage lenders may need to hire more employees

As one of the leaders in the inverted industry, Longbridge currently employs 477 people. The company shared internal data that it has promoted more than 40 people and made more than 90 external employees in the past year, making the workforce grew by 12%.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Neil Pierson: Can you outline the current problems about recruiting and accepting in the reverse mortgage industry? Can those problems get worse on the basis of the expectation that the demand for consumers is expected to rise? And what is Longbridge’s plan to tackle these problems?

Melissa Macerato: Historically it has been an industry where we often recruit from within. In order to continue to grow and expand this industry – and to keep up with innovation – we must become more creative about our recruitment and expand to who we look at.

The easiest thing to do is hire someone who does all the work because they have a proven record. But I do think that more should invest in people, in training programs and in ‘breeding’ to grow and develop them. What I mean by Kwezigen is to bring individuals early in their career, early in their time in reverse mortgages, and to teach them internally.

NP: Let’s touch more on the typical candidate you are looking for with these positions. Whether it is a processor, an originator, an underwriter, etc. Are many of these people from the inverted industry? Or is it similar to the forward mortgage channel, where they often look at people with backgrounds in other industries, such as car or insurance sales?

Mm: It’s a bit of both. Like I said, it’s easier to bring in people who do all the work. The learning curve is less steep and we can get them going quickly.

I like to be in a place where we bring in both seasoned individuals and newcomers, so you have opportunities to guide individuals. But you need a training program for that. And we have a rigorous training process on our sales side.

I will give you an example. Our CSRs, representatives of the caretaker service, are persons without a permit on the sales side. They first take the calls. Those opportunities or leads are transferred to a recognized loan officer. We have brought people from outside the industry, from all different backgrounds, usually with some sales experience, and they learn about the reverse mortgage world. They learn about the products. And then the next step for that person can be as a recognized loan officer, where we spend the money to get a permit and trained and you can actually sell the product.

It is important that we bring new talent to Longbridge because we grow. We want to innovate constantly. We have rolled out various new products this year and it is important that we continue to become really efficient.

NP: Specific to touching the original aspect, if you try to rent for that kind of role, how is that easily translated for someone who may have been in the forward mortgage industry for a while? Are there many similarities, or are there a number of really important differences that you have to spend time working with that person to help them understand?

Mm: If you sell a forward mortgages today, you already have a permit, so that is half the battle. Getting those licenses is a major investment.

If you take a Forward MortGage Loan Officer and you bring them to return, the challenge is about the product. They understand the financing side of things. They understand recognized mortgage activities. They understand the concept of the mortgage and how to sell, but we would teach them the product, because Reverse is clearly very different. You really sell the product, while it often on the forward side, it is a rate -based sale.

The point to ensure that we do a lot of due diligence with the borrower, so that this is the right product for them. Nowadays we have both HECM and Platinum products, as well as in some states, our heloc for senior products. The point to ensure that we evaluate what the borrower is looking and what they are trying to achieve.

NP: I wanted to touch a bit on AI, which is now a hot topic in the industry. What is happening in that room for reverse lenders who can influence your recruitment decisions?

Mm: I really think AI will enable our people. We are clearly looking for individuals where technology is not a barrier for them, that they understand the importance that it has. Our COO, Bill Packer, says that AI is not going to take your job, but someone who knows how to work and work with AI can take your job.

It is something that we defend as one of our leading principles in the future that people are looking for innovative, more efficient ways to do the company. Because if we don’t keep it up, other companies can pass us by. We don’t hide it. This is the train we are on, so jump on, because if you don’t use all these best practices, it will bring you to a real disadvantage.

NP: Can you give us an overview of how industry will look like in terms of personnel level in the next five to 10 years? Do you expect companies to fall behind if they do not tackle urgent understaffing issues?

Mm: I think we should grow collectively and bring new people to the industry. I think that the trade of resources, De Ronde Robin that traditionally continued in the past, will not be sufficient for growth in the future. It is really important that we become a tempting industry to introduce new and young people.

One of the areas I am going to work with our HR team and our recruitment team is working with colleges and universities. Nobody ever says they go to school, come out and be a reverse mortgage loan officer. But many people find their way here and I would like to do that in their career because they bring a new perspective. That will require training programs and mentorships, things we continue to concentrate on here.