Lykken on Lending

In this episode, we dive again into the dynamic world of the mortgage industry with none other than Bill Cosgrove, the esteemed leader of Union Home Mortgage.  Bill shares how Union Home Mortgage has not only survived but thrived in the ever-changing landscape of the mortgage market. He shares how he and his team have cracked the code on employee retention, creating an environment where people genuinely want to stay. With a focus on open and honest communication, fostering trust, and valuing every team member’s contribution, Union Home Mortgage has built a business family that embraces healthy debates and finds optimal solutions together. Bill also highlights the crucial role of scaling in the mortgage industry. He acknowledges the advantages of being a large-scale player but also emphasizes that world-class excellence can be achieved at any level. Bill’s vision for Union Home Mortgage’s future involves continued scaling, responsible growth, and a relentless dedication to delivering exceptional service to its customers. The mortgage industry is not just about numbers; it’s about transforming lives and shaping a better future. Tune in now and learn how to create meaningful change!

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Watch the episode here

Mortgage Industry With Bill Cosgrove Of Union Home Mortgage

We are with a bit of a celebrity in our industry. He’s a humble guy, so he’s going to say, “I’m not a celebrity. I’m just a guy that likes to get things done.” Bill Cosgrove is here with us. He is the Founder of Union Home, and he has done such a great job leading our industry. Bill Cosgrove has been a leader in the industry starting the Independent Mortgage Bankers Association. There are people who see a problem and there are people who do something about the problem. Our guest, Bill Cosgrove, is someone who does something about the problem. Bill, it’s so good to have you here. I appreciate you joining in.

I’m happy too. It’s great to see you, Alice, Mark, and the invisible interns.

We are going to talk about the invisible interns, but Alice and Mark, thank you so much for joining in on this. I appreciate you, Alice. I know how busy they keep you there for you to carve out a little more time out of the regular show to join us in this interview. It’s important because we want to get your perspective on what you see. You are known to our audience so well. Your perspective of what you see can only enrich our conversation, and we want to focus.

Mark, thank you so much. He is a bit of a veteran and a legend in his own time. It’s Mark Helm. We appreciate you all being here. When think about leadership, Mark, you look at people who do something and make something happen and that’s exactly some of the things we want to talk about. Let’s start, Bill, by talking about the industry. Where is this industry at? We have had the biggest highs we have ever had. It’s like one of those sugar rushes. You have a big sugar rush over the holidays, and then you crash afterward, and we have experienced both. Talk about where are we at as an industry. I’d love to know your thoughts as an independent mortgage banker.

You described it well. I still think that the industry is overcapacity. Although it’s shrinking every day, it’s still overcapacity. We are all figuring out that the margins cannot go to zero. We have to be profitable. There is an infrastructure that’s needed in order to be a national growing world-class mortgage banker. It cannot be a race to the bottom to zero margin. There’s almost an evolution. There’s almost a storyboard that happens when business slows down.

 

 

People want a lower margin because they think that will get them more business. When they realize that not only does it not get them more business, but the business that they book is at a loss, then they say, “This doesn’t work,” and then they start raising their margin to nowhere near the boom times, but an acceptable margin to pay the bills and be minimally profitable. That’s where the market is now.

 

 

Margins are a little healthier and they are more reasonable. It’s an industry where we are trying to find the middle ground ecosystem in supply and demand. In Union Home, we are growing our loan officers and sales staff and we are excited about that, but the closings per loan officer are down. The industry is in a down cycle, but we are finding a healthy moment or healthy shelf in that down cycle.

I love trading stocks in the markets and you look at anything you are investing in. You look at the fundamentals underpinning whatever you are investing in. Do we have good fundamentals or do we not? That’s a rhetorical question. If we were to ask it as a question, we know we have solid fundamentals underneath there in part because of the interns that you have sitting in that room.

They are up-and-coming in the industry. I want to get to that because one of the favorite things you do so well is bring new blood into our industry, but that group is going to want homes and they are going to be buying homes. When you look at the headwinds of what we are seeing now, like the affordability index, availability, and all of that, what are some of your thoughts? How’s one of the top mortgage bankers in the country thinking about our current environment now?

There’s a pent-up demand for home ownership. There are many more buyers than there are homes available. I go back to when I was Chairman of the Mortgage Banker Association. It’s old ancient history in 2016, but Alice knows this. We have had the conversation. In my speech that we did 30 times across the country, we talked about a lack of inventory back then.

We talked about a lack of new homes being built in the country, and then we also talked about where I’m old enough now that the homes that I started my loan officer career on were post-World War II housing boom. All that housing is many years old. You have a phenomenon where the young generation wants to be homeowners. Rents have skyrocketed even more so than home values. There is a pent-up demand for home ownership.

Now what we need to do is there needs to be a national push, a program. Whoever is the next president of the United States, no matter what party they are from, homeownership and housing in America need to be a priority. If we can get that right, the future of housing in America will be fantastic. There is a supply crisis in this country that has to be recognized, and there’s a plan that has to be put in place to solve it. Quite honestly, long-term, if we can solve that jigsaw puzzle and create more single-family homes, there’s a pent-up demand for housing in America.

This goes back to the fundamentals. One of the things that’s affecting the pent-up demand, at least from building new home construction is the amount of regulation that’s going into the cost of building a home. Generally, across America, it’s 30% to 40%. In places like California, as much as 50% of the cost of building a home is in regulation.

 

You hear about this, and that’s got to get fixed. You talk about also we want to have a home. Bill Clinton and his administration were fostered that we should try to create home ownership. The same language we are using. We learned a valuable lesson is that home ownership is a privilege, not a right. I know that you spoke to that when you are at the MBA as chairman and there are a lot of things. How do we avoid some of those mistakes? How do we not have history repeat itself?

The term affordable lending is truly a misnomer because affordable lending isn’t the problem and it is not the solution. What you need is affordable home ownership. We hear that we are five million single-family homes short of a proper inventory in the country and basic supply and demand. Interest rates have gone up 400 basis points, but the prices of housing have gone down 6% or 5%.

The only reason in there is because you have a shortage. In the end, I don’t think we need to give mortgages away. I don’t think we need to lower our lending standards. We don’t need to do any of those things. What we need to do is there is a simple housing shortage in America. In the Rust Belts, the neighborhood where I grew up as a kid, those homes are getting old and dilapidated.

There needs to be a real revitalization of neighborhoods in this country, but we need to demand it be a priority of future administrations. When was the last time that there’s been a true housing initiative in the country? I will say this and then we can go on to something else. We have the best housing system ever created by mankind in the world.

I believe in the last many years, this country has taken it for granted. We have taken it for granted and now it’s starting to show some wear and tear because we haven’t built enough homes. We need a wake-up call in this country. We need to build more homes and we need to stop taking for granted the best housing system ever created in the world. That’s my stump speech.

It is good. If you run for office, I promise I will vote for you on that one. It’s making the noise in Washington, DC, and making the noise at the state level to make an impact. I hope the next generation catches that. What you have done so successfully in our industry has been one of the catalysts to have a voice, to have your voice heard, and done it in a way that is tasteful and has affected change. We have a lot more changes coming ahead of us. One of the things that you have changed is you are bringing young, fresh faces, energy, and minds into our industry, and you are sitting in a room with a whole bunch of interns reading as we do that, and I applaud you for that.

We have talked about that before. Readers, if you have not read, go to the Lykken On Leadership Podcast and download Bill’s interview I did with him. It’s one of the most downloaded podcasts that we have in that series because of the things you talked about there. Interns there in the room, if you have not read Bill’s episode, download it. It’s something for the textbooks, and it’s one that will be read for generations to come. When you look at the next generation, what is the vision and what is the problem that you are solving with this next generation that you are bringing in? I applaud you for it, but what is the problem you are solving?

It’s not a problem as much as it’s an opportunity. Alice can chime in. She’s a big part of this. I’m at this age and I got into the mortgage business when I was 23. We all fall into it in our own way. We all fall into this by accident. At the end of the day, there are 25 different career paths in a mortgage company. It’s so dynamic. If you expose young people to it, sometimes it catches fire. Even if it doesn’t catch fire, then we have exposed young people we believe to what a world-class organization and a culture is all about that they could take with them throughout their career.

 

Alice and her team are a big part of it. We love exposing young and bright people and students to mortgage banking and the passion that we have for it. Maybe they will find the same passion we found. If not, they get exposed to what being a professional is about and what working with others is about. When you don’t exactly agree on the solution, how do you handle that the next day? It’s 100 days a year that we have with our interns. It’s an award-winning program and we just love doing it. Alice, why don’t you speak? Alice is a big part of this program. Alice, what do you think?

I think you hit the nail on the head because the number one thing they walk away with is how wonderful our culture is. From there, they start to learn to love mortgage banking. It’s surprising how many of them come in and go, “I don’t even know what a mortgage is.” None of them have one to start with. When they come in and they meet the wonderful people who work here, they realize what a great place this is to work.

Folks who had no idea they wanted to be in mortgage banking now go, “This is exciting.” Our end goal is we put people in houses. What we do as a company is rewarding and has its ways of getting back to the community. We have all types of things they can participate in like the Union Home Foundation, which they all love that. There is a lot for them to love and to hang onto and want to make part of their career and start to build a career here.

Alice, let’s start with you and then Bill chime in on this one. Talk about the program and specifically the curriculum. How do you bring them in? When you look at the deer in the headlights, as they are looking at you and their eyes are open, what are the things that they are trying to figure out and how do you get them excited about this industry, Alice?

We spend a lot of time planning. We start in January, and even after one group leaves, we are already thinking of what we can do better the next time. We start planning to make sure that we have very meaningful work for them to do. That’s the key. You can ask the folks in the room, Bill. How many of them feel that they are doing meaningful work?

They are doing real work.

We spend a lot of time prepping and planning so that when they get here, we have specialized onboarding programs for them and lots of fun activities. That’s key, making sure that they get meaningful work and projects that are both long-term and short-term, so they get an instant reward and, also, they are part of something they can leave behind.

I find it exciting. One of the keys is you move them through the various disciplines and departments within the organization. If I remember when we talked about this before, Alice and Bill. One of the plans is you try to get them exposed to the various aspects of the various disciplines. Is that correct?

That’s Alice’s Excel program. We expose the interns to real work. They do the same work that the professionals do day in and day out. Believe it or not, they do. Also, we bring them into every meeting unless it’s personnel. They see the meetings that we are making big decisions at the organization and maybe there are five good answers and we got to find the best answer.

They are also in the meetings where we have a problem that’s an opportunity and we have got six people in a room that when we walk in the room, we have got about 80% of it figured out, but the last 20% is always the hard part, and we are walking through that. We expose them to every aspect of running a business and a career. They appreciate the fact that it is a full-blown professional experience and they respond well to it. They do.

 

 

Mark Helm, good to have you on the interview with me. You are a professor. You are an educator yourself. Your daughter is a professor. Any thoughts or reflections on this aspect before I move on to the next section?

I think a couple of ones. Bill, I salute you for what you are doing. What you are doing is something that’s been missing from the equation in our country and business for years, and the people that have done it have usually done, “Okay, job. It sounds like you are doing an excellent job.” What you are going to do is create some real business leaders for the future because I’m sure what they can learn there, they can take to any business.

You have the innovation to do that, and I’m glad to hear about your program. It will be meaningful for not only your company but for those people, for their careers to come, and you can’t do any better than that. That’s what it’s all about out there. I would ask you one question, and you might do this already. When you bring the individuals into your meeting, do they speak up and give you their comments about what they hear?

Afterwards. We do a debrief almost after every meeting because while it’s still fresh, I want them to ask questions. A lot of times it’s me, but anybody in the room, and we will talk through the whys of what happened and when. We do a virtual and immediate debrief on every meeting while it’s fresh and it seems to be a very high impact. Once in a while, depending on what the subject matter is, we will open it up for the interns to talk to the group at times before the group disbands. It has an immediate high impact on the spot of learning.

When you talk about growth, you guys are enjoying some good growth in a contracting market. You seem to be growing relative to many of your counterparts. Many of our counterparts out there are wringing their hands. “What can we do and what we do?” You are doing something that is going into the opening comments about your man of action.

One of the things about growth is getting new people in. You are doing that through the intern program. You are doing a great job recruiting, but I want to focus on retention. You have people that stay there. Alice, I was in awe that you recruited someone like Alice to come in. People come there. You created a culture where people want to stay. How have you cracked the code on retention? We have had a lot of revolving doors and a lot of mortgage companies in this industry.

Alice might be better at answering this than I am, but it’s about collaboration and having a lot of open and honest conversations, especially the topics that you are not going to fully agree on and there’s no perfect answer. It’s having systems in place and having a culture of open, honest, and continual conversations and a lot of conversations about why this decision versus that decision. If people feel valued and invested, they are able to speak up and discuss how they feel about a certain topic, and people respond to that.

Our culture is one where we could disagree on the answer and problem. We will attack problems, but we won’t attack each other. There’s a trust that’s developed that you are attacking the problem and solution, but you are not attacking each other. Once that trust develops, it’s a little easier to get through the hard days. That’s what the secret recipe is. Alice, do you want to clean that up?

 

I’m going to brag about Bill Cosgrove because it all starts at the top. He is an amazing leader. His vision is always clear. There are many things, but one of my favorite things that they say repeatedly that Bill says our top sales leadership and our top ops leadership will say is, “This is a team sport. We are all in this together.”

Sales isn’t trumping ops. Ops isn’t trumping sales. We work to solve problems, and sales are always there to say they are accountable. We talked about how everybody has minimum standards. You mentioned that in the call, and one of the things that makes it so wonderful to work here is the high-quality people. We all work every day to come in with a positive attitude. We bring our attitudes and meet those minimum standards. Bill, do you want to talk about that team sport concept? That’s one of the secret sauce pieces.

It starts with the salespeople because, in a lot of cultures, it’s so sales dominant and everybody else is subservient. Our sales folks, especially our president’s club loan officers, are truly team players where they hold themselves and their teams responsible, which makes it easier on ops and so forth. It’s a culture. As Al says, “At Union Home, we want to be world-class people that happen to be world-class mortgage bankers, but it starts with being truly world-class people, and we won’t compromise on that.” When we have problems, we are honest about it and we are honest about what we think the solution is. My mother passed away a few years ago, and my mom could have run Union Home Mortgage. It’s what our parents or grandparents taught us about human values.

It is human values and it’s respecting people. That doesn’t mean we always have to agree. It’s learning how to disagree but do so in an agreeable fashion. It’s that healthy debate. Alice, I want to go to you because you have sat in the meetings and you have watched it. I’m not asking for an example, but describe how a healthy debate happened at Union Home.

Every week, we have a meeting where we go through underwriting policies. The agency issues a memo. Here’s the sales interpretation, the ops, or the QC interpretation. Every Wednesday at 9:30, I call it CPG day, we meet and we talk that through and we weigh out what the risks are, what the benefits are, and what sales need. In that meeting, we solved and agreed to, from everyone’s perspective, what’s the right thing to do for the company and look out for the Cosgrove portfolio at the same time. It happens every single day, but that’s one example of a steady meeting every single week.

Going back to the retention formula, is this a factor that keeps people there, Bill?

Absolutely. We are not making decisions in a vacuum. We have a meeting every morning at 8:00, which is a senior management meeting that, some days, has 80 people throughout the country. Some days have 110, and it’s our kitchen table where anybody could bring any subject matter to be discussed and worked out. We start our day at the kitchen table, which is where all good discussions happen. That’s a great way to start the day as a business family. That’s what we do.

I love the word business family. When you say it’s a team sport, we hear those phrases, but it’s living those, living them out, and being an example of how a team shows up because, when you look at different teams, they say it’s a team sport, but you look at an iconic individual. I’m thinking of one particular basketball player, who has a tendency to be there and have strong skills within a team. When you get the strength of the whole group, it’s so much more powerful.

Let’s talk about growth from the standpoint of recruiting. You guys are growing, you are out looking at companies, and you pick up companies. What would you say to the executives that are out there saying, “I’m done. I’m looking for a home.” Why would they want to join Union Home other than the reasons we have already talked about?

Number one, for better or worse, and I’m not saying this is bad in and of itself, we don’t have private equity in the deal that is looking for return. We have a long-term view of the market. We have a pure mortgage banking view of the market. I don’t have any other type of investor that is looking for the monetary and it’s got to be a 20% return, “Cut the corners. You need to cut to give me a 20% return within 4 or 5 years.” We have none of that. It is a pure long-term mortgage banking growth.

We are committed to the business. We are committed long term. We are investing in great people. We are still profitable. It’s hard, but our servicing portfolio, which is $21 billion for our size is spinning off very good cash. You and I had these conversations many times. You almost taught me this. It’s countercyclical to originations since we are able to take our profitability, which is skinny, but reinvest that in the business.

We think while everybody is hiding under the covers that we are going forward in a responsible way. When you look at it, we think our offerings are amongst the top in the industry. A lot of wonderful people are choosing Union Home throughout the country. We are excited about that, but I think we are pure mortgage bankers, and there is no plan B.

 

Mark, I want to come back to the servicing issue with you, but I have another question. It’s the counter side of that question. Who is not a good fit? Someone who’s looking to make a move, you would say, “We are not the home for this.” Who do you filter out and what are some of those filters?

Alice can help here too. I don’t think we have to filter anyone out because before we hire folks, we bring them to Cleveland and Northeast Ohio to our campus. They spend a few days and they round table with all of our senior executive teams. We want them to see ops, sales, and IT secondary. We want people to spend time with everybody. By the end of the trip, you know if someone views the world the way we do, or if we may not be the best fit for them. If we are not the best fit for them, we are okay with that and we respect that.

We don’t try to force it. It’s not good for the professional and it’s not good for Union Home. We are authentic to who we are. We are always trying to be better. We are not saying we are perfect or we have everything right. We are evolving to be better every day. It’s part of our culture. Alice, you could comment on this. We are pretty authentic to who we are, and mortgage professionals appreciate that authenticity.

I agree. If, for some reason, someone does make it and maybe starts to look around and go, “I don’t know if I can live up to this accountability,” there are minimum standards for loan officers and all of us. People will find out pretty quickly, “I love this. This works for me. I like the accountability and the environment.” However, you do occasionally have the folks go, “No. It’s too much accountability for me.”

Mark, one of the things that we have noticed in our years of consulting is accountability is a good thing, but not everyone embraces accountability. I’d love to get your thoughts on this interview where we have gone so far. We can’t believe we have already gone as long as we have. We have to wrap this thing up at some point, but your thoughts, Mark?

I’d like to put a couple of questions in here if I could. One for Bill that comes right out from me. Bill, listening to you talk and seeing all that you have accomplished, what do you see on the list for Bill to accomplish in the remaining time he’s involved in the industry? David and I will be around this industry that carries you out the door. I tell you that now from this conversation, but what’s on your list that you would like to accomplish in the next couple of years?

For us, I probably grew the organization slowly and maybe a little too conservatively for too long because I wanted to make sure that we were accountable from a financial standpoint and that we were able to build the servicing portfolio. I will tell you that at this point in my career, we are a nine-time top workplace and we have won every award there is to win. Now, we are getting good at scaling this business.

I talked to my friend, Bill Emerson. I love the guy and his family. We are competitors, but yet we are dear friends. Bill told me that it’s a whole hell of a lot more fun to be big and good than small and good in our business. It’s a scale business. I would tell you, Mark, that Union Home went from about the 80th largest lender in America, and now we are about 35th and growing quickly. We have learned to scale our business and do it in a way where we are getting better. I would tell you that to answer that question directly, the last several years of my career are going to be about us scaling this business and winning in a more responsible but aggressive manner.

It's a lot more fun to be big and good than small and good. Click To Tweet

What a legacy. That’s for sure. You mentioned servicing there, where I spent most of my career in servicing and operations. Although, I did do originations and all in the first ten years of my career. Talking about servicing, servicing nowadays is a trial and tribulation every day because of dealing with the GSEs and Ginnie Mae and all the changing requirements, looking at net worth, and putting restrictions. Alice knows this stuff inside and out. How do you feel about servicing as a real integral part of your business on a go-forward basis?

Alice, you see these numbers running Union University. We have over a 99% 5-star rating with every customer we close a loan with. There are some wonderful sub-servicers out in the marketplace to do a very good job. Nothing against sub-servicers, but at that moment when you close over 99% of your loans and that customer gives you a 5-star rating, we want to keep that loan in the family and give them a world-class servicing experience, which we do, which will lead to the next home purchase many years on down the line the next refinance.

Servicing that mortgage loan and keeping the Union Home brand long-term with that customer and that family connects the loan officer, which builds loyalty all the way around, is important for us to do. Talk about scale and size. We are of the scale and size now that you could give great service to those customers and be profitable in servicing at our size. That’s what we do. We believe in servicing our loans and we are very proud of that.

I’m going to pay you the highest compliment I can. Where can I fill out an application?

Alice runs Junior University, so Alice is the big boss. I’m the friendly guy in the corner. You are going in the wrong direction. You need to talk to Alice.

Not for servicing. Thank you, Mark. We know you have a lot of expertise there.

As we wrap this interview up, when you look at our industry, you now went from 80th to 35th. Is the advantage now gone to the point where you have got to be at a scale? Bill Emerson over there at Quicken and Rocket, what they had is amazing. Do you have to be that big or is there still a place for the entrepreneur or new entree into the marketplace?

I would never stomp on anybody’s dreams. You could be world-class at any level, David. I do. The economics of this business costs millions of dollars to compete in technology. It costs multimillions of dollars to compete in marketing. Even though there are been layoffs in the industry, labor is never cheap. You have to invest a lot of money to be world-class. I would never say that you can’t be small. You can’t be the 105th largest lender in America and not be world-class. I would never say that, but I do think over time, the scale of mortgage banking cannot be denied.

Never stomp on anybody's dreams. Click To Tweet

It truly is a scale business. You got to execute. You have to close loans on time no matter if you are the largest lender in America or the thousandth largest. There are fundamentals that always have to be there that we never forget at Union Home, but scaling the business is vitally important. It always comes down to you. You have got to close loans on time every time, and you have got to treat your customers and your employee-partners in a world-class manner. In some ways, some of the fundamentals I started in 1985 haven’t changed. Once in a while, people try to make it a little too complicated. It’s not that complicated. Take great applications, be honest with people, and close loans on time. Mortgage banking is a pretty good business to be in if you do those things.

I know how busy you are and I’m so grateful that you would join us and allow us to have Alice join us again. I’m always grateful that you let Alice join in on the show. What a fabulous contribution, Alice, to the show. Also, you have this contribution to what you are building there, Bill, when you draw in top professionals like Alice. Way to go. Kudos. To the interns that are sitting there in the room, you could not pick a better place to be working or at least interning.

I hope you choose this industry because there’s nothing that can transform lives. When you touch lives as the mortgage industry does, there’s nothing more impactful or causes you to want to stay in an industry than changing lives. That’s what we do as an industry. Bill, you are doing that in a glorious fashion. Congratulations on getting to number 35. I expect you to be in the top ten in time. Also, congratulations on being a nine-time top workplace winner. That is an accomplishment. Way to go.

Thank you, my friend. You know how I feel about you and your contribution to the industry. I value our friendship. Your friendship is a blessing. Mark, thank you. These types of communications industry-wide simply make us better and I appreciate it. The interns here, these guys, we had breakfast at 7:30. They are learning what a workday is like in mortgage banking. They are getting a full taste. We are having a good time together.

If you get an intern to turn out for breakfast at 7:30, that’s an accomplishment in itself.

They are never late. I have news for you. America is in good hands moving forward. They are wonderful young people and this country is in good hands.

More and more young people are wonderful young people. This country is in good hands. Click To Tweet

I’m teasing the interns there. Bill, thanks so much for being here. Alice, thanks for joining in. Thanks, Mark, for joining in on yet another episode. It is always fun to talk to leaders, Mark, and we certainly have one here. Bill, Alice, and interns, thanks for all being a part of this show. Blessings to you and have a continued success.

Thanks, Dave and Bill.

Thank you.

 

Important Links

• Union Home Mortgage
• https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/bill-cosgrove-332a337/

 

About Bill Cosgrove

Bill Cosgrove is the president and chief executive officer of Union Home Mortgage, a high-growth, full-service retail, wholesale and consumer direct independent mortgage banking company. Mr. Cosgrove has accrued more than 33 years of mortgage banking industry experience since the beginning of his career in 1986 as a residential loan officer. He later joined Union Home Mortgage in 1994 and became its sole owner in 1999.

As a result of Mr. Cosgrove’s leadership, Union Home Mortgage has experienced incredible growth, expanding from 2 branches and 35 Partners in 1999, to 165 branches and more than 1,300 Partners nationwide. Mr. Cosgrove has developed a culture and operating philosophy that grew the company from its humble roots in Cleveland, to a nationally acclaimed mortgage bank. In 2019, the company originated nearly $5 billion in home loans, making it one of the largest family-owned mortgage banking companies in America.

From the onset of his career, Mr. Cosgrove has developed a reputation as one of the leading innovators for the mortgage banking industry in Northeast Ohio and the country. In addition to his responsibilities as president and chief executive officer of Union Home Mortgage, Mr. Cosgrove also served as the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association (OMBA) president in 2007 and the national chairman of the Mortgage Banker Association (MBA) in 2015, making him the first professional in Ohio history to serve in both capacities. Mr. Cosgrove also founded the MBA Independent Mortgage Bankers Conference in 2012.

Mr. Cosgrove’s advocacy for mortgage banking is well evidenced by requests to testify before Congress as an expert in the mortgage lending industry. He has given testimony before the House Financial Services and Senate Banking Committees in Washington, D.C. as well as the Ohio House of Representatives.

Mr. Cosgrove was awarded the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Andy Woodard Distinguished Service Award in 2016, the highest recognition an individual member of the MBA can receive. Mr. Cosgrove is proud to have been inducted into the Bedford, Ohio High School Distinguished Hall of Fame for his mortgage banking accomplishments. Mr. Cosgrove was named a “40 Under 40” executive by Crain’s Cleveland Business.

Mr. Cosgrove is an engaged member of the Northeast Ohio community, serving on the board of directors for both the Greater Cleveland Partnership and the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission. He is a proud father of three children and a loving husband.