Trent Hendry is a Vice President and Escrow Officer at Salt Lake City-based Mountain View Title and President of the Utah Association of Mortgage Professionals (UAMP). National Mortgage Professional Magazine
recently spoke with him regarding his work with this association.
How did you get involved with the UAMP? What was the track that led you to the association’s leadership role?
I got involved to serve and help out my fellow mortgage people. I began serving on the UAMP Board in 2013, and became President because they asked me serve. I was flattered that they would regard me so highly and I gladly accepted the appointment.
Why should mortgage professionals in Utah join UAMP?
UAMP helps our mortgage originators get the necessary education needed to be better loan officers. This includes the NMLS continuing education requirement for licensing, as well as other educational topics to improve their marketing and ability to close loans. On the advocacy side, legislation is a big part of what we do. We work in the state capital to keep an eye on the legislature, while giving a voice to the mortgage industry. We help protect consumers and make the lives of the originators a little easier. We have Capital Day, where many UAMP members gather and talk about current legislation and issues that we feel need to be dealt with. We also work on a national level, going to Washington, D.C. for the Annual Legislative & Regulatory Conference.
How many members are currently in the UAMP?
We currently have about 70 members. We started the year with 50 members, and we are projecting to have 120 by the end of the year.
There was recently a bit of drama involving your Annual Expo. What was the story behind that?
Our Annual Expo is our biggest event of the year. This year, a company came into the state and held a similar expo. It did created some confusion initially, but in the end our Board was able to work hard to clear up the confusion and we had a great Expo, one of our best attended Expos ever. In fact, we have one of the best attended Expos in the nation here thanks to the great mortgage people in our state. We are lucky to have a lot of amazing mortgage experts in our state.
What is the UAMP’s relationship with NAMB?
We are the state affiliate for the national association, NAMB. When people become members of UAMP, they are automatically enrolled as a member with NAMB. We feel it is equally important because NAMB is a big part of what we can do on a legislative front in Washington, D.C. There is power in numbers, and NAMB provides that amongst many other benefits for our local members.
In other parts of the country, there is concern that not enough young people are coming into the industry. Is that a problem in Utah?
It was from 2008-2012. I’ve seen a little bit of an increase over the last year or two. I think the Millennial generation may have been scared off during the recession, but now we see more young people come in, not only as originators, but also in the title insurance sector where I work as well on the Realtor side. It is exciting to see their enthusiasm for our great industry.
What is the state of the Utah housing market?
Booming. It is extremely busy. But we are dealing with a supply and demand issue–there is a lot of competition, and offers are being accepted in record times.
Phil Hall is Managing Editor of National Mortgage Professional Magazine.
He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].
