Granted, such attitudes were prevailing in the late 80s when he was coming up, cutting his teeth in the risky landscape of subprime mortgages. Yet much work remains to be done in the realm of equity and inclusion to this day, he noted.
The immediate past president of NAMB (the National Association of Mortgage Brokers), White was in the top 1% of mortgage originators in the US last year. He was named the Mortgage Professional of the Year in 2018 after having secured the distinguished Mortgage Professional award the previous year. In 2013, he was named the mortgage broker of the year by his peers at the Florida Association of Mortgage Professionals while being presented the president’s award for outstanding service to the group.
Among White’s specialties are conventional and jumbo residential home loans; FHA, VA lending programs; FHA 203K streamline and full 203K loan programs; Fannie Mae HomePath programs and portfolio lending products.
Despite such impressive bona fides, he said the quest for industry inclusion continues. “Our industry still has to have more women, more people of color, more different genders. We need to be more inclusive in our industry.”
White knows from challenges. Formerly in the pest control business in northern Virginia, White said his accountant in 1989 suggested he go into the mortgage industry instead. “I’m like, um, math is not my best subject. The next thing you know, they put me in a little town in West Virginia, and that’s where I cut my teeth doing subprime mortgages.”