HighTechLending, a California-based top-10 reverse mortgage lender, announced on Friday that it is rebranding its wholesale lending division to American Senior Lending Wholesale Division in an effort to better align its identity with key business lines designed to serve older borrowers.
To get a better idea of what led to the rebranding initiative, HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD) sat down with Eric Ellsworth, the company’s executive vice president of sales, and Rich Walker, its vice president of wholesale reverse, to discuss some of the details.
What’s in a name?
Walker explained that the company name of HighTechLending, which goes back to 2007, emphasized its place as a leader in new technology solutions for mortgage — including paperless files. As time has passed, company leaders have understood that the name may not be communicating its dedication to the reverse mortgage and senior lending spaces as efficiently as it could.
“In subsequent years, the reverse division grew bigger and bigger until it actually eclipsed the forward mortgage division, maybe not in volume, but definitely in profitability,” Walker told RMD. “In previous years, both divisions were going gangbusters through the COVID refi boom. But nowadays, with reverse being much more lucrative on the back end, we [recognized] a need to rebrand and let everybody know we are primarily a reverse company.”
Ellsworth added that this is designed as a statement about the division’s focus on the needs of senior borrowers. HighTechLending has been using the “American Senior” name in other parts of the company, so applying it more directly to the name of a division doing reverse mortgages made sense to the leadership team.
But the name also applies more broadly than one product type, he said.
“There always was this American Senior brand that some of our branches used, and the internal call center used American Senior as well,” Ellsworth said. “We really liked that name, and so, in addition to American Senior, we added American Senior Lending as a company. We chose not to go with ‘American Senior Reverse Mortgage’ because, from a 30,000-foot company perspective, we want to be the one-stop shop for seniors, 55 and older, for all their financing needs.”
That also allows company executives and loan officers to include a discussion of more potential product offerings to their clients instead of being isolated on only one, Ellsworth explained.
“We’re excited to make this transition in our wholesale division from HighTechLending Wholesale Division to American Senior Lending Wholesale Division,” he said. “This change will allow us to continue being a wholesale lender for reverse mortgages and other products in the future that will help seniors tap into the equity of their homes, which we’re really excited about.”
Aligning vision and tools
The addition of the American Senior Lending dba to the channel helps to broadly align the company with the overarching mission of serving seniors with appropriate financial product options, Ellsworth said.
“This is our strategic vision: to be the go-to lender for seniors 55 and older,” he said. “One of our big outlets is our wholesale channel. We feel that to distribute more products, including future products, it’s essential for the wholesale division to align with this vision. “A key part of this alignment is ensuring that the name American Senior Lending is in place as we move forward which plays into the strategic vision of the entire company.”
This sentiment was echoed by David Peskin, who assumed an ownership position at the company earlier this year.
“Changing our name to American Senior Lending is the next chapter of our strategy and emphasizes our focus on helping older homeowners have access to the best products for their needs,” Peskin said in a statement provided to RMD. “Our goal is to specialize in helping our partners support their older clients with hands-on support and diversified products. Our name change shows our commitment to this demographic and business model.”
In terms of getting the tools and technology lined up to support the change, Walker said that the only remaining operational details involve changing over specific details on licenses in certain states, including dba registry in other states the company is entering. Ellsworth added that there will be other planned product offerings in the coming months but that the company is primarily focused on its expansion plans and a desire to cover more ground.
Walker added that he hopes the reverse mortgage industry at large appreciates the presence of a new brand in the market.
“For our partners, we want them to know that there’s nothing on their end that they need to do. They don’t need to update their broker agreements. Everything will transition seamlessly to the new name,” he said. “The important thing is to let them know that there won’t be any additional effort required on their end. It will be business as usual, but they’ll be doing business with a more reverse-branded company.”
