Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers

Allow me to first say thank you to each of you who are members of the Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals; thank you. For those of you who are not currently members allow me to say, please consider joining the one Association in the State of Florida whose mission is to advance the mortgage profession through advocacy, education and ethical practice.

It is a great honor and privilege to have been installed as President of the Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals at our annual convention and tradeshow in July. The Association which began in 1960 is now celebrating its 50th year in existence. The FAMP is the oldest Association of Mortgage Professionals in the United States and together we can continue to chart the course of the Association over the next 50 years.

Each of us is currently working on our licensing requirements as it relates to the SAFE Act and the impending transition into the National Mortgage Licensing System. I encourage each of you to be proactive in regards to meeting the requirements of licensure and utilize the tools and courses being offered by your local FAMP chapters in order to meet the licensing requirements as soon as possible. Starting October 1, 2010 you will be able to begin the transition into the NMLS system and if you have been proactive the transition should be less hectic for you and the Office of Financial Regulation.

Regardless of whether you are a loan originator, mortgage broker, processor, underwriter, closer, or work in any role in the mortgage industry we are all in this industry together and each of us makes a difference each day. The FAMP is "Your" Association as we are all Mortgage Professionals. I made a request of each of the attendees at the President's Reception during the convention, and I will make the same request of each of you; please recruit 1 new member (or more if you will) and if each of us recruits one new member our Association will double in size; it's that easy!

I wish to say a special thanks to Val Saunders for her service to the Association over the past several years. Her time as President and even before becoming President was fraught with activity and she served the Association with a passion and concern that each of us should try to learn from and pass on to our future leaders. Thank you Val!

I would also like to say thank you to each of the current Executive Committee officers, I look forward to working with each of you over the upcoming year. I would also like to ask each of you to please provide the support and input to each of your Committee Chairs as each of these members has agreed to Chair a committee in pursuit of advancing your Association.

I will leave you with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt (edited for gender equality); "Each person owes a part of their time and money to the business or industry in which they are engaged. No person has a moral right to withhold their support from an organization that is striving to improve conditions within their sphere". Please join your Association and help us help our members!