If there’s one fault most salespeople share it is this- a lack of follow up with the borrower after the sale. While many may contact the homeowner after the loan funds, or call to explain the first monthly loan statement- few stay in regular contact with the borrower. A lack of communication or no longer being easily accessible is fertile ground for misunderstanding, frustration, and yes even litigation. Consider for a moment the perception of an elderly borrower who may be panicked over some innocuous notice, or even worse a notice to remedy a delinquent property tax installment. Like most, they cannot easily locate their loan paperwork, just as most 30-year-olds cannot quickly locate their closing documents or even the folder they received from their mortgage broker. An older homeowner is fraught with worry, their adult children may be angry, and most importantly- a situation that may have been quickly remedied gets out of control.

The infamous USA Today expose on reverse mortgages included one instance of a homeowner having their loan called due and payable for a two-dollar deficiency on their property taxes. Two-dollars! Sure, they could reach their servicer- but what if they don’t? Who has egg on their face? The lender, loan officer, and the industry as a whole.

“As an industry overall, we need to do a better job of communicating with our clients. We need to make it easy for them to contact us and reach a live person knowledgeable enough to answer their questions and provide appropriate guidance. This needs to be done at every stage of a loan, from origination thru final disposition”, said NRMLA President and CEO Peter Bell in NRMLA’s publication Reverse Mortgage Magazine. Timely words of wisdom indeed.