Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation announced last week that senior loan officer Roxanne Hellickson has received a company certification to add Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) and HECM for Purchase (H4P) products to her offerings. This certification comes amid the company’s wider push into the reverse space.
Hellickson will primarily serve markets in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“Reverse mortgages are a safe financial tool that allow[s] seniors access to the equity they’ve spent a lifetime building up in their homes,” Hellickson said in a statement. “I’m so excited to explain to my senior clients how this kind of loan can change their lives, allowing them to tap into money they can use for home improvements, travel, or for anything else, all while knowing they will never lose their house.”
Hellickson earned her reverse certification after spending decades in the mortgage business, according to Kris Heichel, a branch manager with Fairway.
“Roxanne has been in the mortgage business for more than 40 years and brings a deep understanding of what kind of loan is best for any situation,” said Heichel. “Having Roxanne certified to offer HECM reverse mortgages is exciting for us, as we at Fairway believe reverse mortgages are an underutilized tool in retirement planning.”
Fairway has recently focused on making changes to the dynamics of its reverse mortgage division while expanding its presence through a more decentralized leadership model that includes regionally-focused reverse mortgage senior vice presidents (SVPs).
The company also appointed Dan Ventura as its VP of reverse mortgage operations at the end of March. In the new role, Ventura coordinates with Fairway’s reverse processing center regional leadership to ensure operational consistency between the traditional and reverse mortgage businesses.
One goal the company aims to achieve with its reverse mortgage reorganization is to normalize HECM product offerings alongside its traditional mortgage products, according to Fairway EVP of reverse marketing and technology Tom Evans.
“I think we’ve spent decades preserving our little unique space that reverse exists in,” Evans said. “And then, we complain that people don’t know what it is or don’t trust it. The first way to normalize it is to make the originator experience closer to what they’re used to on the traditional side.”
