Kimber White’s vision for NAMB: Affordable housing and enhanced mortgage education

Kimber White, the incoming president for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB), is taking the reins of the organization on Oct. 1, marking the second time that he’ll be leading the organization.

White originally held the role, which is a one-year term, back in 2020. Five years later, White sat down with HousingWire to discuss his plans for addressing the housing affordability crisis, lobbying efforts and improving mortgage education.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sarah Wolak: Your takeover as NAMB’s president is about a month away. Your first term was during the first Trump administration and the COVID-19 pandemic. How are you planning for your term five years later?

Kimber White: I’m really excited to hit the ground running. The first thing we’re working on is NAMB National, which is the first event right after I take the presidency. I’ve been part of NAMB since 2012, so I’m very excited.

Then we’re kicking off a mentoring program called Elevate, which we just started requesting mentors for. More than anything else, there’s a lack of education in our industry and the market has slowed. Our industry needs education, whether you’re an experienced loan officer or a new loan officer coming into the business. I don’t think there’s enough education.

As someone with 39 years in the business, I know that one of my main goals is to educate and provide educational tools through our mentoring program, through our video libraries, through educational programs that we already have in place, and in our certification classes.

SW: What are some of the upcoming highlights at NAMB National?

KW: NAMB National is going to have a big focus on education and AI technology — how to enhance it with your business and not let it take over your business.

The [White House Office of Management and Budget] hasn’t come out with a report that was supposed to come out [about LO compensation]. We don’t know what’s going to happen with LO comp, but we know the CFPB is looking at it, so we will be part of that conversation.

Addressing affordable housing programs out of the gate is very important to me this coming year, more than anything else. There’s the largest wealth inequality gap that I’ve seen in 39 years.

I also want to grow our young professional network. We started a young professional subgroup, and we’ve been enhancing our women’s group because we’ve always had a women’s group. These are things I wanted to do in 2020, but I got stuck with the COVID administration.

SW: It was announced this week that President Trump might declare a national housing emergency. And I know that you just mentioned NAMB’s affordable housing initiatives and education. How would that come into play with some of the initiatives that you’re trying to push today?

KW: I think we are in a national housing emergency. I think people are still buying homes. I think people are still on the market. But when I look in the industry, this is the toughest ever. … The gap that we have between people in the 1980s and the people today is astronomical.

Why? Because in the ’80s, at least your paychecks kept up with your housing. The average consumer’s pay has not kept up, so that’s why I talk about wealth inequality. There’s inequality in housing all the way across the board. As someone who has the experience I’ve lived through — quite a few housing bubbles and booms — I think that with NAMB, I’m excited if the president is discussing a housing emergency, or if anyone in Washington is.

I think everyone realizes that there’s an issue. The thing is, now we all need to be part of a conversation to resolve the issue and understand it’s not just throwing money at it. It’s a true conversation. Because we’re talking about insurance, we’re talking about taxes. There’s a lot that goes into this. It’s kind of exciting to come into my presidency and there being a discussion on this happening.

SW: Can you share your plans for how you’ll be leading some advocacy initiatives when you take the president’s role?

KW: One of the advocacy issues I want to go after right now is loan-level pricing adjustments. Call it what it is — they’re taxes. And when I look at loan-level price adjustments, again, if you make under 80% of AMI (area median income), this is an initiative where you can get a much lower interest rate than someone who is at 100% AMI.

So I want to have discussions about if the government wants to really make an impact on interest rates, it doesn’t have to be the Fed’s responsibility to lower the rates. [It can be done] by just getting rid of some of the loan-level prices, just as the previous administration put in place, and especially also on investment properties and second homes.

Of course, we’re focusing on LO comp. We don’t know where LO comp is going, but we need to make sure that the LO comp isn’t totally going away. We’re also focusing on VA, specifically, the Gold Star Spouses bill.

Another area is credit, VantageScore and FICO, specifically, how it’s going to work and how we’re going to educate the brokers on that. These are initiatives that NAMB will lead the way in. … I will want to use my knowledge and my passion for the housing industry to move forward and to work to find solutions.