If we never took risks, we would never get off the ground. Clients ask me about risk all the time. I tell them, ‘You can't eliminate risk, but you can qualify it. You can analyze it. And you can identify the individual elements of risk that threaten any project.’ So we build a solution to account for those risks.

James “Jim” Milano helps financial institutions – mortgage companies, banking institutions, secondary market investors, consumer finance companies, and settlement service providers – comply with federal and state lending regulations. He guides clients in navigating digital marketing rules under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and advises lenders and servicers in implementing and complying with the Federal Housing Administration’s Home Equity Mortgage Conversion (HECM) program. Jim also assists home equity access startups with home equity and appreciation sharing products and sales leaseback programs: designing programs, obtaining regulatory approvals, and taking them through initial and subsequent capital raises.

As one of the country’s leading lawyers in reverse mortgage law, Jim regularly reviews and designs proprietary reverse mortgage loan programs. He also works with lenders, servicers, and settlement service providers, including Appraisal Management Companies, to resolve federal and state regulatory investigations, including defending and settling civil disciplinary enforcement actions.

In the early 2000s, Jim helped design and structure a patented Sharia-compliant declining balance co-ownership financing arrangement. Clients appreciate his dependability, commitment to their success, and determination to identify and mitigate the risks inherent to mortgage programs while ensuring compliance with an ever-evolving body of federal and state regulations.

Jim is a “people person” who has never met a stranger. He likes to meet, talk to, and find out about new people: where they are from, what they do, and what excites them. Whether it’s a personal or professional connection, he enjoys helping them without expecting anything in return.