The first day of this year’s National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Annual Meeting and Expo in San Diego wound down with an announcement that marks the end of an era.

The association honored two of its most prominent past and present members with distinguished service awards. These were given to Peter Bell, NRMLA’s current CEO and former president, and Scott Norman, its former co-chair and current CEO of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association (TMBA).

Notably, Bell also announced that he will be retiring from the association, although he will continue to work on issues related to affordable housing.

NRMLA will be separating from Bell’s association management company, Dworbell Inc., as part of the transition and will continue operating independently of it.

Four employees of NRMLA will become employees of law firm Weiner Brodsky Kider, which will continue serving as the association’s outside general counsel and will now provide administrative support services. NRMLA will continue to operate under the supervision and direction of its board of directors.

Bell, who has had a career in or near housing policy since 1976, has been involved with reverse mortgages in one way or another since the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program’s inception. In a 2020 interview, Bell told HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD) that he was in the room “on the day in 1987 of the mark-up of the bill that created the HECM program.”

He was instrumental in founding NRMLA in the 1990s, and he has served in the dual role of president and CEO for most of the association’s existence. He was in the Oval Office with President Barack Obama and then-U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan when the president signed the Reverse Mortgage Stabilization Act of 2013 into law.

In 2019, Bell stepped down from the president’s role at NRMLA, handing it off to Steve Irwin. He has remained as CEO since then but will step down effective Sept. 30.

Bell made the announcement on the event stage next to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Julia Gordon, whom he had just interviewed.

“After 28 years of representing the reverse mortgage industry and being engaged in all aspects of the industry’s issues, I decided to step down from being CEO to focus my own time on the other side of my business, which is the affordable housing industry,” Bell told RMD in San Diego.

“I’ve only been in the reverse mortgage industry for 28 years, but I’ve been in the affordable housing industry for 48 years, and I felt it was time for me to make that the center of my focus during my remaining working years.”

During the association’s business meeting, Bell was recognized with a distinguished service award for his key role in founding and serving NRMLA. Another distinguished service award was given to Norman, who served NRMLA in various capacities over the years, most recently as co-chair of its board of directors.

Norman stepped down from his role at reverse lender Finance of America and NRMLA earlier this year when he was hired as CEO of TMBA.

When asked about the recognition he received, Norman said he was humbled.

“My first reverse mortgage conference was almost 25 years ago to the day,” Norman said. “And I’ve had great mentors and developed great friendships. It’s been a real part of my life for 25 years, and I was very fortunate to start with Jim Mahoney and end with Kristen Sieffert.

“Along the way, I got to know the Peter Bells and the Steve Irwins, the Joe DeMarkeys and Mike Kents. So much of my personal and professional life has been associated with NRMLA, and to be recognized was incredibly humbling and a little emotional too.”

Norman also weighed in on Bell’s retirement, calling him a great mentor in the space.

“He invited me to my very first conference 25 years ago — in Naples, Florida, in November of 1999,” Norman said. “It’s somewhat bittersweet because I know how much time and effort he’s put into this industry, and the idea of protecting seniors while allowing them to utilize their own home equity for retirement.”