[Alice] Marc, I know we talked a little bit about the markets earlier. Anything you have to close us out with?
[Marc] No, not on the market, but I got a rant for you.
[Alice] Perfect.
[Marc] Okay. I don’t know where to start this rant, but I’m gonna start it off this way. And I think Allen would probably agree with me on this one and probably everybody on the phone, would, we got to do something in this country about the bad, fake, erroneous, any other adjective you wanna put to it? Solicitations we get. I had an experience last week where a company. Made 6 calls to me in 30 minutes, and they were piggybacking on a name of a doctor practice I use, offering me a special care program that I could sign up for. That was 1995 a month where I could call in and talk to an RN anytime I needed, or a physician assistants and all, and I thought it, one of them gave me the spiel and then I cut them off and I thought it was funky. I didn’t give them any information. They started asking me for things that. They weren’t real, real personal, but things that started building a file on me if I gave them the answers. So I wasn’t gonna give them any answers on that. So I said, look, I don’t have time to talk about this. I’ll talk to you later. And I left and then I immediately got on the phone and called up my doctor’s office and found this thing was completely bogus. So somebody was trying to get my credit card number to charge me 1995 on a month on a service I was never gonna get by using a doctor that I’ve gone to a doctor’s practice in Houston I’ve gone to for 30 years and saying they were a supplemental service offered to that and they had a real fancy name to it. I’m not gonna share that name on the, on what we’re doing here, but they had a real fancy name for it. I’ll send y’all an email and tell you what it was. But it was really
[Allen] Marc, that was me. You didn’t wanna sign up.
[Marc] Yeah. Yeah, probably was, it just goes to the point, and I think Allen would agree with this. We gotta get some control on what’s going on in this country. These robo numbers, I get these numbers called from every minor city all over the country. And there’s ways to control that When you’re giving out blocks of thousands of numbers, you can control that, you can stop that from happening if the regulators got on it. And rather than focusing on some of the things our regulators focus on, let’s focus on that and protect our people in this country. Because some people don’t aren’t as, savvy as others on when they get on the phone, they give away their life and turn around next, and they got a real mess to clean up. Some of us at our feel like we can get trapped in something if you’re not careful. So I’ve gotten a where I don’t ever talk to anybody that calls on the phone anymore. If they say they’re from somewhere, I always call it somewhere back at my number that I have for them and make sure it’s legit. I don’t trust anybody calling anymore. I don’t know if everybody else feels that way, but that’s the way I feel.
[Alice] Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And I know, my mom is 90 and she’s fabulous. She still, does her own taxes and drives and she has her taxes on the computer, by the way and she’s the same way. She gets hit a lot. I think age they target that folks who are older and so it’s always, don’t answer the phone, which is sad that you can’t pick up your own phone.
[Marc] And it’s been around for a while too. Alice, I wanna give you all a story. My mother-in-law died at 84 years old. I took, I was managing all of her business when she was in nursing home and all that kind of stuff in the hospital and all those things and right before she died, I found out that she had seven years’ worth of paid in full TV guide subscriptions. Oh, okay. And she was 85 years old. She thought they called, they never told her you got one. They said we need to do your renewal. And she kept renewing it and ruin it has seven years. So we changed the name on it and used our TV guide for seven years. They wouldn’t cancel it for me, but at least I got to use it. But that’s the kind of thing that’s happening to our people out there and it’s not getting any better. I just think it’s getting worse. I really do.
[Bill] As my father was aging. We started aggressively taking technology away, which was really hard, but it was a hundred percent because of the fear of getting scammed.
[Alice] Yeah. Yeah. The scamming is constant. I was just talking to her this morning. She’s here with me today in Tulsa, Oklahoma with my sister, and she already got, this morning she was talking about six different scams she’s already gotten this morning.
[Marc] You getting five or six email Ones a day now. Yeah. And I keep blocking them and, do the button, it says block and spam and delete and all that, but it, I don’t know where that spam stuff goes when you tell them it’s spam, but it’s not stopping them from coming in,
[Alice] Sometimes I wonder if it just makes them feel empowered that, oh, I have a good email. It’s an actual email. Yeah. Probably is. Oh thank you, Marc. I think a lot of our listeners would agree with you and we need to get somebody to pay attention to that for sure. And it is related to mortgages. I think it’s something we as an industry have to think about. Like we were talking earlier to, at what point are we harassing our customers or maybe it’s something we can help our customers identify and be better at protecting themselves against those types of things. So thank you, Marc. Thank you everyone. Thank you. Thank you Ben Dela Cruz for many years of helping us and keeping the production running smoothly and helping us all sound better when this is finally published.
Marc Helm
, CEO, and Author
Marc Helm serves as a Principal Partner at Transformational Mortgage Solutions, bringing over 46 years of extensive experience in the financial services and mortgage banking industry. Currently serving as the President and CEO of both ReverseAmerica Advisors, Inc. and Mortgage Consultants of America (MCA), Marc has established a proven track record of leadership and accomplishments, both within and beyond the mortgage banking sector.
In his notable role as the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. (RMS), Marc played a pivotal role in steering RMS to become one of the largest Ginnie Mae Securitizers, originators, and servicers/sub servicers in the reverse mortgage industry. His influence has reached various key positions in the industry, including serving as Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Loan Administration Committee and Chairman of the MBA Technology Committee. Recognizing his expertise, he has been honored with memberships in prestigious advisory boards such as the Fidelity (LPS) Information Systems Mortgage Servicing Advisory Board and the National Reverse Mortgage Lender Association’s (NRMLA) Board of Directors.
Marc’s commitment to community involvement and philanthropy is evident in his roles as a Board Member of the American Heart Association (AHA), his past chairmanship of the AHA’s “Open Your Heart Campaign” for the Paul “Bear” Bryant National Coach of The Year Award, and his service on the boards of additional organizations such as The Helm Foundation. His dedicated support extends to various causes, including initiatives for children, veterans, military service organizations, and the welfare of homeless mothers and children.
Marc’s dedication to philanthropy is complemented by his prior involvement in various committees and campaigns, such as his role as the Former Chairman for the Houston Area Special Olympics Campaign and Former Chairman of the Houston Area United Way Campaign.
Beyond his professional achievements and community engagement, Marc Helm is a family man, celebrating 49 years of marriage to Sallie Fortner Helm. Together, they have two children, Thomas Charles Helm and Dr. Jean Ann Helm Allen, and five grandchildren. Holding a BS Degree (Summa Cum Laude) and an MS Degree from Troy University, Marc showcases his commitment to education and continuous learning. Currently pursuing a PHD in Organizational Psychology, Marc Helm’s multifaceted expertise, leadership roles, and philanthropic contributions make him an invaluable Principal Partner at Transformational Mortgage Solutions and reinforces his active role as a Co-Host of the “Lykken on Lending” Podcast.