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Safeguard Launches Good Neighbor Door-Hanger Initiative
Safeguard’s “Good Neighbor” program was mentioned on MortgageOrb.com.
31 Jul 2008
Wall Street Journal “Vacant-Property Fees Add to Mortgage Firms’ Woes”
Robert Klein was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article regarding vacant property fees imposed by local governments.
29 Jul 2008
Cuyahoga County Proposes Land Bank Program To Tackle Rising Number of Abandoned Properties
Safeguard Properties was mentioned in an article from DSnews.com which can be viewed here.
16 Jul 2008
Robert Klein Nominated for SmartBusiness Entrepreneur of the Year
Robert Klein has been nominated for 2008?Entrepreneur of the Year by SmartBusiness magazine. The online article featuring Robert’s profile can be viewed here.
1 Jul 2008
Tampa Tribune “The Rubble Of Foreclosures Is Business For Some “
The Tampa Tribune recently printed an article in which Robert Klein was quoted. The article can be viewed online here.
30 Jun 2008
Miami Herald “U.S. mayors seek solutions to vacant-homes crisis”
The Miami Herald recently printed?two articles regarding the U.S. Conference of Mayors held in Miami, Florida, both of which quoted Robert Klein.
23 Jun 2008
Financial Week – Property values to fall
Robert Klein was quoted in a June 10 article regarding the slide of property values in 2008.
20 Jun 2008
Field Services Provider Donates $150,000 to Cleveland Foreclosure Prevention
Housing Wire has printed an article about Safeguard Properties donating $150,000 to Cuyahoga County’s Foreclosure Prevention Program.
13 Jun 2008
Safeguard Properties Honored for $150K Foreclosure Prevention Donation
DSnews.com?has printed an article about Safeguard Properties donating $150,000 to Cuyahoga County’s Foreclosure Prevention Program.
13 Jun 2008
Vacant Property Ordinances: Finding Common Ground on a National Scale
Published in Managing REO June 11, 2008
By Robert Klein
11 Jun 2008
Servicing Management “Increase REO Marketability While Controlling Repair Costs”
Robert Klein contributed an article to the June 2008 edition of Servicing Management magazine.
1 Jun 2008
American Banker Article “For Lenders, New Costs to Foreclose”
As discussed in the following article from American Banker,whether litigation, ordinances or increased violations cities throughout the country are increasingly looking at avenues to address increasing foreclosures.
14 Apr 2008
USA Today “Mortgage lenders see more borrowers give up “
A recent article in USA Today? discusses the challenges facing the loan servicing industry, including including increasing borrower contact with the goal if increased home retention.
14 Mar 2008
Effective Communication-Code Enforcement and the Servicing Industry
Published in March/April 2008 REOMAC Update Magazine
By Robert Klein
Statistics abound about how much property values drop when defaulted and REO properties fall into disrepair. This is why the mortgage servicing industry and other investors spend millions of dollars annually keeping properties in their portfolios up to code and in good repair. In many instances, even actively managed REO properties experience code violations resulting from weather damage, vandalism and other unexpected events.
One of the greatest challenges in effectively dealing with code violations has been the inability to create an effective communication channel between local code enforcement officials and the servicing industry.
Typically, when code enforcement personnel issue a violation, the violation is sent to the owner of record on file with local recorders’ offices. It is too common that this information is either out of date, or lacks accurate contact information so that violations can be brought to the attention of the right person and addressed in a timely manner. Even when the right entity is on record, the contact information may be incomplete or inaccurate. As a result, code violation notices can wind up in the wrong city, with the wrong department, and even worse, in a waste basket with piles of junk mail.
Over the past few years, the field services industry has worked diligently to address this issue on behalf of its clients. Prompt notification of code violations and timely remediation is essential in addressing property damage to prevent further deterioration and community blight. At Safeguard, we have actively developed a working partnership with thousands of code enforcement officials in cities across the country to eliminate this communication gap. Rather than sending notices to the entity on record when code violations occur on vacant properties, we have asked them to notify us, and in turn, we have identified the right contact, whether the property was in our client portfolio or not.
This approach has provided two advantages. First, it has given us an early alert about code violations on our clients’ properties, allowing us to address issues in a timely manner to prevent further property damage. Second, it has allowed us to help our colleagues in the industry, with a courtesy contact to the responsible party to make them aware of violations so they can engage their own inspection and maintenance process.
It is one example of how the mortgage field services industry works cooperatively to raise the level of service we all provide to our clients, and maintain the integrity of properties and neighborhoods across the country.
Recently, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) added a Property Preservation Resource Center to its web site (www.mortgagebankers.org/propertypreservation). Through this site, code enforcement officials nationally can obtain property preservation contact information for mortgage service companies to facilitate the process when code violations come to their attention. It also provides a link to the MERS Servicer Identification System to identify parties responsible for specific properties. This service is an invaluable resource for code enforcement officials and mortgage servicers nationally to further open the lines of communication.
By working together to identify and address property violations quickly and effectively, we can all be more effective in maintaining the quality and integrity of vacant properties, helping our clients achieve faster and more valuable sales, and preserving neighborhoods for homeowners and their families.
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Robert Klein, a long time REOMACTM member and supporter, is CEO of Safeguard Properties, Cleveland, OH, the largest privately held mortgage field services company in the U.S.
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1 Mar 2008
Cleveland Plain Dealer “Mortgage field service firms doing well in Cleveland amid foreclosures”
Recently, the Cleveland Plain Dealer featured an in-depth look at the efforts of? the loan servicing industry to?mitigate the potential consequences of?the increasing number of vacant and abandoned properties. With the initial condition of these properties deteriorating (as increasing reports of “property stripping” surface), superior maintenance of these properties is vital to?protect them from ?further damages and return the properties to productive use.
24 Feb 2008
Buffalo News “Salvaging Foreclosed Homes”
A recent article in The Buffalo News chronicles efforts by the servicing industry to return abandoned properties to productive use.
3 Feb 2008
