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NAMB President’s Corner: April 2012

Wow! What a great NAMB Legislative & Regulatory Conference we just held. The disappointing thing was that we only had 100 people show up, but boy, did they get their money’s worth.
The morning panel discussion featuring the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), National Association of Realtors (NAR) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), along with NAMB Government Affairs Chairman John Hudson as the moderator, could have gone on for two more hours. All of our panelists were great. The luncheon was a great session as well, as we hosted Bart Shapiro from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as our guest speaker, and Allison Brown, also from the CFPB, as our afternoon speaker on loan originator (LO) examinations. I think the entire Government Affairs Committee did a fantastic job of putting together a very good group to help us understand some of the different things that we, as mortgage professionals, have been forced to cope with in these times.
I had the pleasure to attend meetings at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and at the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). I was captivated to find that we are very much looked upon as people who are able to give good, solid information that both of these agencies are interested in receiving. John Hudson will talk more about the Legislative Conference in his article below. He will provide a solid analysis of the event and dissect the endeavors of the trials and tribulations going through Congress today.
We continue to work very hard in Washington, D.C. to get our message across. I have to admit that I was very happy to see that in almost all of my conversations with my congressmen and senators, and with most of you, that these guys are really starting to get it. They seem to have their hand on what is going on and what we are talking about. That is a direct reflection on all of you getting out there and talking to your legislators and giving them the information required. Our grassroots efforts are again starting to work, but we have to keep it up and continue. Do not let up!
By the time you see this article; you will know that we offered a Webinar to NAMB members only with the director of the CFPB, Richard Cordray. We have been working for nearly a month to get the date and time, and we finally were able to get an open time for him to be with us for an hour. I hope all of you were able to take advantage of this outstanding opportunity to listen to what he had to say and to participate with some of your questions. We plan on doing these Webinars each month with someone or on a topic that is current or has something that they can bring to us of importance in our everyday life as a mortgage professional.
We are now beginning to accept nominations for the NAMB board of directors. If you personally know of someone that we should look at to be on the board, please visit NAMB.org and complete the paperwork to nominate them for a position. The most important part of this process is that the board needs people who are willing to work to get things completed. Most of the meetings are conducted via conference call, but there are three in-person meetings each year that you will need to attend. It also helps if you have a designation of the Certified Mortgage Consultant (CMC) or Certified Residential Mortgage Specialist (CRMS). This is because only two members can sit on the board as a director without these designations, which limits who is eligible.
I would also like to know if you are interested in being a chair or co-chair of one of our committees, please contact me at [email protected] and let me know. I am putting together a list of all of those who are interested, so that I can begin putting together the committees for next year. Please, don’t be shy. We want volunteers and if you just want to be on a committee, let me know and I can work that out also.
At the Legislative Conference, I promoted Andy W. Harris from Oregon to fill one of the open spots on the board. Andy is from Vantage Mortgage Group and has been an active supporter of the association for a number of years. He has also been extremely active in his native state of Oregon, serving in many capacities, his latest as president of the Oregon Association of Mortgage Professionals (OAMP). I have also promoted John Stevens from Utah to complete the open board positions, as he came on board April 4. John has also been a past president of his state association, and for the past three years, has been chair and co-chair of NAMB/WEST. John will again chair the NAMB/WEST Conference this year. All of their contact information can be seen on the NAMB Web site, NAMB.org.
In concluding this month’s column, I believe I should comment on the statement that I have on all of my e-mails concerning membership. Now I know that every article that is written by me or by someone else always brings out the membership question, “Why don’t you belong?” But in discussions with people, I began to think of something that had meaning. I came up with “MEMBERSHIP … BE YOUR PART OF IT!” I must admit that it is a little corny, but it is such a true statement. We cannot be a successful association without you and your part of membership. I really don’t understand why people feel that $120 for a Platinum Membership or $50 for a Silver Membership is looked at as an astronomically high amount. I currently pay $320 per year to be an umpire. That is my dues, my membership into the umpires association, and every umpire does this because it is important enough to be a member and we are required to belong to an association because that makes us better umpires. So, maybe all of you that are not members should break down and join. What have you got to lose? NOTHING! In fact, you probably will be better-informed, better-trained and a little more knowledgeable about your profession. After all, it’s YOUR PART OF IT we are missing!
Donald J. Frommeyer, CRMS of Amtrust Mortgage Funding in Carmel, Ind. is president of NAMB, The Association of Mortgage Professionals. He may be reached by phone at (317) 575-4355 or e-mail [email protected].
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