Fairway’s Sciandra joins NRMLA board

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) announced this week that Peter Sciandra, EVP of reverse lending and secondary marketing at Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation, has joined its board of directors for the remainder of the 2023-2024 term.

Reverse mortgage division leaders at Fairway announced in February that in addition to a reshuffling of the division’s leadership team, the company had elected to rejoin NRMLA after splitting from the association in late 2021. Rejoining NRMLA was described as key to its efforts to be a part of the larger reverse mortgage industry conversation, according to leaders who spoke with RMD, including Sciandra.

Peter Sciandra

Sciandra expressed gratitude to NRMLA for the opportunity to join the board.

“It’s especially important at this time as there are many challenges within our industry that are already being addressed by this group, and yet there are many more that need to be addressed in order to help our industry to stabilize and grow,” Sciandra told RMD in an email.

Fairway wants to see the reverse mortgage product category become a mainstream financial instrument, he stated, and adding itself to the conversation among its other peers in the space will be a core part of pursuing that goal.

“At this time, Fairway is willing to take on a leadership role and help to drive the reverse industry’s success,” he said. “In addition to my being a member of the board, there are several key senior managers within Fairway Reverse that will be taking part in the various committees that are working diligently to develop program improvements and overcome the assorted challenges that must be addressed.”

NRMLA President Steve Irwin is also looking forward to Sciandra’s contributions to the board’s conversations, he said.

“I am delighted with Peter Sciandra’s acceptance of his nomination to the NRMLA Board of Directors,” Irwin told RMD. “Given Peter’s unique background in the reverse mortgage space, his participation will strengthen the Board’s ability to meet the challenges facing our industry and help shape the reverse mortgage industry of tomorrow.”

Dan Ventura, president of Fairway’s reverse mortgage lending, recently explained for RMD that a key goal of the division is to conduct reverse mortgage business “at forward speed.”