Market is strong and growing, says California association leader

“The people we have put in houses can afford to be in those houses.”--Lombardo

Becoming president of the California Association of Mortgage Professionals came naturally to Hi-Tech Mortgage owner Anthony Lombardo.

He got involved in his local chapter in Sacramento as soon as he moved from his company’s Arizona office back to his hometown in 2008. He accepted a position on the chapter board of directors and worked his way up to president.

“We were very small, but we had a great board and we just started growing the chapter. Within a few months we had become the largest chapter in the state, and we still are. We knew what we wanted to do, and we did it.”

He said what they did was to create events that were educational and that got people involved. They promoted events on Facebook, gaining 700 followers.

He said that led to his getting on the state board, where he served as president-elect in 2015, is president this year and will be immediate past president in 2017. “It’s really a 3-year commitment,” he noted.

“it’s been a great run,” he said.

He said CAMP focuses on education, getting people involved in networking and in career enhancement training, presenting webinars on such things as technology, regulatory compliance, sales and motivation. He said the organization does a fair amount of lobbying, but only to push legislation that benefits consumers. “It has to benefit consumers or it doesn’t make any sense.”

Lombardo said he is especially proud that the board recently voted to provide a free one-year membership to each new licensee in the state, as soon as they get their license, in the hope that a free membership will provide the impetus for people to get involved.

He said he thinks the industry is doing well and is on a growth curve without much danger of overheating. “The business is growing. I believe the industry will stay the course. I hear people talking doom and gloom, talking about another housing bubble, but I think something really bad would have to happen externally for the bubble to burst—a lot of people would have to lose their jobs. There could be a correction but it would take heavy jobs losses for the market to burst.

“The people we are putting in houses, and have been putting in houses for the last 7 years, can afford to be in those houses. It would take a lot for those people to go into foreclosure.”