Looking back on 2019—the year that marked our 10th as your association—it’s clear that it’s been both our busiest and, in my perspective, our best. Although we’ve had a smaller team than ever before, we successfully launched some of our most ambitious initiatives yet:

Government Relations // Our inaugural eight-person, member- led Government Relations Committee met with the offices of several members of Congress and state legislators, successfully making our opinions known on HMDA, Florida mortgage licensing and New York real estate transaction tax increases (check out p. 14 for Matthew Gunter’s legislative update). The Committee also launched nationwide bill monitoring, introduced a new online petition system and hosted four public Legislative Town Halls.

Education // Our Certified Fund Manager designation course is going online, with our in-person courses to expand upon the new video course content. We’ve designed a new credit structure to maintain designations over time. Finally, we launched a new webinar archive and online member portal to make finding resources easier than ever.

All-New Member Directory // We rebuilt our directory from the ground up to make it easier for potential borrowers and other parties to find and verify members’ status. Members can now personalize their listings with company descriptions, photos and video.

Data // We’re excited to announce our partnership with national financial and housing research firm Zelman & Associates to launch the first private lender benchmark survey, tailored by our Education Committee. Respondents will receive access to the aggregated data, enabling them to track their position in the market like never before. If you’re not already, become a Friend of AAPL to participate.

Private Lender // We’ve expanded our online archives to make it easier to “flip through” Private Lender magazine from the comfort of any device. We’ve automated nearly all our processes with our new portal for writers and advertisers. And, in 2020, we’re enhancing our print magazine to a larger, more in-depth quarterly publication that will include a new Resource Guide featuring service providers that specialize in working with private lenders. We’re also excited to add a political cartoonist—Jerry King—as a regular contributor. He brings a fun, but important, perspective to our advocacy efforts.

Annual Conference // We automated most of our conference processes to enable our smaller team to put on the nation’s largest private lender event with ease. We sold out  of sponsorships more than six weeks ahead of the event, attendance was the highest  it’s ever been and we hosted one of our industry’s most impactful—and infamous—personalities, former congressman Barney Frank.

Although these are our most noteworthy accomplishments, each day we work with energy and enthusiasm to protect and advance what it means to be a private lender. Thank you for being with us on this journey.

Linda Hyde,
Managing Director, American Association of Private Lenders