Do you have a WHY? Here's mine..

I've been in the mortgage industry for a very long time and there is one story I have held in my mind. In the early 90's I was a brand new processor. Being new, I'll admit, I didn't do well at anticipating all of the challenges that can arise during the life cycle of a mortgage.

One of my customers was a single mom with two small boys. She was purchasing a HUD Repo (HUD owned the home because the previous owner defaulted on their FHA loan.) The program allowed my client to purchase the home with a $1 down payment. A win for a single mom, a win for HUD. HUD contracted with a specific title company to close all of their sales. This title company had some pretty strict rules about when they would allow a client to close in relation to when they received the loan documents. Back then we didn't have any kind of electronic document delivery. The documents were typed up on a type-writer and sent by courier to the title company. The documents showed up to the title company 1 hour after the deadline for the customer to close that day. It was a Friday afternoon. I called the escrow officer and literally begged for an exception. It was only 1 hour after all. The title company was very busy and said they'd "try and fit her in." This single mom sat in the lobby of that title company with her two young children for 4 hours, waiting. She had to be out of her apartment that weekend. That was the worst 4 hours of my career to that point. All I could see was this poor woman, trying to keep two little kids corralled and entertained while she waited nervously to see if she would have a roof over their precious heads. The good news is she did end up closing on her home that day and getting her keys.

It's been 34 years and for all of those years, when I saw a client whose closing was late, or even barely on time, I saw that first single mom in my mind's eye.

6 years ago I was the National Underwriting Director for a large national mortgage banker. There was a lot of change happening at my company. Management had decided to sell, and we all know what that kind of short-term balance sheet focus does to any business. At the same time, I was noticing a pattern. There was a pattern with a few of our loan officers. They weren't communicating well with their customers. Imagine the frustration of showing up to your closing and finding out your loan was never approved! This sincerely hurt my heart.

I received a call from a loan officer who had left the company. She suggested I would be a great loan officer. So after 28 years in operations, I got my license and moved into originations. I felt that if I could serve a few people very well each month instead of trying to serve a thousand I could become the difference I wanted to see in my industry. A loan officer who actually cares about the client. One that actively advocates on their behalf, who educates them on the process, and who can anticipate those speed bumps.

My why are the people I can help while treating them with respect and kindness, not like a paycheck.