You are correct and I am currently working for a mortgage banker.

Check NRMLA website. Certified Reverse Mortgage Advisor.

James,rnrnYou need to contact formeremployee2 about your certification program. Our industry would be better off if there was just one certificate program that actually had some worth. Certainly all employer issued certificates are less than credible; I have a few hidden away in my closet.rnrnI wish NRMLA the best in getting its program off the ground. I just wish they had taken a harder line on educaton; it is definitely its weakest quality.

Damn, my Wife is right–I am getting senile: That should have been jeffz39, not jeff 39.

Congratulations!!!rnrnWhat in the world is a reverse mortgage advisor certification??? It seems there are as many different kinds of certificates as there are HECM originators. Soon they will all be worthless.

Former New Horizon Employee,rnrnI actually had sympathy for your plight. Your inaccurate responses are taking away some of that.rnrnAgain you got it wrong. Most mortgage originators in California do not have real estate licenses and legally originate mortgages day in and day out.rnrnI am a California real estate broker but I set up the branch of a California Financial Lender which can hire anyone to be a mortgage originator; there is no license requirement other than to be qualified as a CFL. Federally and California state chartered bank employees and employees of credit unions do not have to hold California real estate licensees to originate reverse mortgages in California. In this state we also have California Residential Mortgage Lenders which are also exempt from real estate licensing laws.rnrnYou are better off sticking to your story about New Horizon than trying to instruct us on licensing laws which apply to mortgage lenders in this state.rnrnI still hope you end up on your feet and have great success in this industry as I do for all of us.

The worse thing the employees or management of New Horizon could do is feel sorry for themselves. That would be pathetic at best. rnrnHere in California we saw one reverse mortgage retailer almost go under due to potential liablities from their forward mortgage operations. A white knight came along acquiring its assets and sunk a few tens of millions of dollars —- NOT into its reverse operations but —- trying to set up forward mortgage operations in anticipation of a return of the forward mortgage industry. By the end of 2008, less than one year later, operations were discontinued and with no assets other than a few HECMs in process, former management took back the reverse mortgage operations placing it into the old entity and now that company is among the top ten reverse mortgage retailers in the country.rnrnThe best advice one can give is that now is the best time to start over. If management has stood by its employees, things can be turned around even if New Horizon is no more.rn

I have been in the loan business for 27 years, A broker for 19 years and the sole owner of a mortgage company for 17 years.rnI find 60% of the poeple in our industry are dishonest, yet they truley believe themselves to be honest. Its amazing to listen to their B.S.

Approval

Former New Horizon Employee,rnrnWhile I am very sympathetic to your plight, your post has some significant misinformation. rnrnFor example, it is not just equity that dropped by as much as 2/3s; I really think you meant to say values fell that much. If it was merely equity that dropped by 1/3 to 2/3, far more seniors could be helped than we are able to help here in California. Many seniors have suffered irrecoverable equity losses with these kinds of losses in values. In San Bernardino County, California, alone, if houses increase in value to 300% of their present values, they will in many cases still be slightly less than their peak values about three short years ago. Senior homeowners, who could not react quickly enough (and all but a minute few could), lost immense amounts of equity, many times seeing it go negative. rnrnIt seems you agree with The Cynic, the company reacted in a Pollyanna fashion to clear signs of problems in the marketplace. That is truly a sad epitaph. It is the job of management to react to the changing circumstances in the market. When that cannot occur quickly enough, significant financial loss can result.rnrnHowever, that does not mean this is not a sad event and that we do not share the loss you and the entire New Horizon team have experienced; many of us have experienced the same. We wish all of you the best. It is too bad New Horizon is one of the latest victims of the current economic devastation.rn

jamesanelson: Thank you for the compliment. I think my story may not be unique: As a long time real estate sales licensee when I saw the landscape of California real estate turn to almost exclusively foreclosure and short sales I knew I wanted absolutely no part in those kinds of sales, the heartbreak one sees as families are displaced from their homes is profound. rnI researched the reverse mortgage product and thought is was a terrific product that would work well for certain seniors. I then researched companies to find those with ethical and long established histories. New Horizons was one of them. They happened to be advertising for a loan officer. I closed my real estate business and became a full time reverse mortgage loan originator and sold no real estate once being hired by New Horizons. To sell real estate at the same time originating any FHA product, here in California, is a license violation. I really liked working with my senior borrowers and always tried to serve with heart, and as a regular reader here I have read many of the posts over time: you also serve with heart, it comes through in your posts. Thank you again for the best wishes, I have my resumes out, and fingers are crossed!

There will be more companies closing down or consolidating as they deal with the currently depressed market as well as the new regulatory environment. Unfortunately, some really good people are going with the flow, closing their businesses and going to work for the large banks; others are leaving the industry entirely.

For boomers, the sticker shock of how little they qualify for versus fees, and the drop in values will be a problem unless they absolutely need help. It might be 5 or 7 years before they are any real factor for us.

Maybe Mortgage Broker Company Owners who expect to live “high on the Hog” off seven to fifteen Loan Originators originating one loan a month a piece (while quickly starving to death waiting for the economy to “turn around”), while the owners drive fancy leased “beamers” and sit in fancy leased offices, shoud be forced out of the business. I know several of these people who couldn't talk honestly (or decently) to a Senior if they tried: good riddence, the sooner the better. Maybe these Folks were different, I didn't know them. California, I know, has had difficult times in more ways than just the reverse mortgage industry.

Another unfortunate victim of the over-hyped “booming” reverse mortgage business.

Thanks for reminding all of us of the best our industry can be. How unfortunate that the storm of 2009 has left such damage behind. Hope all of you find a good place to jump to.

Well written and interesting by a loyal employee (I am curious, though, did
you work part-time at New Horizons or at the real estate agency? Did you consider reverse mortgages something you did on the side to make a little extra, or in addition to, while selling real estate? The most important words were “a human failure to cut costs (otherwise known as expenses) drastically”. If everyone involved were (and are still, I'm sure) are as outstanding as you indicate, I'm sure all will bounce back rather handsomely
in time.

As a former employee of NHRM, I can say that the customers were treated ethically and fairly…I wish I could say the same about the former employees. I believe that the former employee with the post above, would be the only 1 to feel warm and fuzzy.

Great post. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

lancejackson,HECM_Dude, Louise321, thank you ever so much for your well wishes!!

James,

Interesting observation. If this person was doing both, that is a direct violation of FHA policy. To sell real estate and provide FHA insured mortgages is (to FHA) like paying HECM originators as independent contractors.

I have been a California real estate broker for almost 20 years but have never sold a single house requiring a real estate license. Under California law real estate brokers can provide mortgages. It is FHA which does not permit a real estate licensee to sell homes requiring a real estate license while providing FHA insured mortgages.

Jeff39
please advise what B.S. are you describing, as stated above by me: in California you MUST be a real estate licensee to originate reverse or forward loans, but once you are orignating any kind of FHA loan you may NOT sell homes, period.

I found new employment with a terrific mortgage bank before NHRM closed its doors. In fact any employee left at NHRM was given the opportunity to move over to the new lender. Unfortunately, there are only 2 of us left. I have been fortunate to be a reverse mortgage advisor since 2005. I am in the process of obtaining my reverse mortgage advisor certification. I love the product and love the clients, and plan to be around for the long haul! Good luck to all other reverse mortgage advisors! The business is out there!

Interesting comments from folks who evidently don’t know the man or the company, I do. As a long time real estate licensee and a reverse mortgage loan officer for New Horizons I can share with you this: New Horizons was a founding member of the reverse mortgage world, Mike Carroll founded Liberty Reverse now Genworth years ago, then went on to found New Horizons. I had the privledge of working for Mike. He was himself honest, hardworking and ethical, he only hired those of us who were also of the same moral fiber and some of us were long time licensees and near senior citizens ourselves. We knew the product well and treated our borrowers well, our litigation rate was zero and our post loan customer service feedback excellent. New Horizons was Bank of America’s #1 wholesaler for years, through 2008, that doesn’t happen because you don’t know what you are doing. What happened at New Horizons then? My opinion is a human failure to react quick enough to cut costs drastically in the face of this: California’s home equities went down by 1/3 to 2/3 in some areas, (we served all of California) the principle limits tightened, the margins changed quickly, the cap on the origination fees occureed, the negative media onslaught of 2009 took effect and for us all of this created the perfect storm for a a drop in the number of mortgages each month. Thus without Mike acting very quickly to slash expenses and instead to continue to hope for the best with the entrance of boomers and and for a turn around in California’s real estate market began a spiral until the company became insolvent. Nothing evil lurking here folks, just good hard working loan officers and processors and a human being, a man whose management mistake in expense/loss/profit projections and calculations cost him the company he founded and LOVED dearly. Be kind, Mike did much to advance the reverse mortgage market throughout California in an ethical and positive manner, in fact never did I make a call on a potential senior borrower in any part of California where the good name of New Horizons Reverse Mortgage was not already known to them. Thank you for your time to consider my post

Congratulations!!!

What in the world is a reverse mortgage advisor certification??? It seems there are as many different kinds of certificates as there are HECM originators. Soon they will all be worthless.