Community Initiatives Department and the Code Enforcement Association of Texas (CEAT) Partner for Industry Education Classes
Community Initiatives
June 30, 2016
Community Initiatives Team Busy Educating the Lone Star State
The past few weeks have been very busy for both Safeguard’s Community Initiatives department and the Code Enforcement Association of Texas (CEAT). Safeguard has been a longtime partner of the statewide organization and that collaboration was recently demonstrated in Lancaster, San Antonio and Austin. More than 110 code enforcement professionals gathered for three, half-day presentations, which included topics related to the mortgage servicing industry and the foreclosure process.
Code enforcement officers from more than 20 jurisdictions attended a class in Lancaster in mid-May. The class was coordinated by CEAT’s Second Vice President Christylla Miles, senior code compliance officer with the City of Lancaster. She arranges and oversees all of the training opportunities facilitated by CEAT. Community Relations Liaison Heather Lazar was joined by Compliance Connections’ Senior Compliance Specialist Josh Ned. While Lazar walked the audience through the industry’s best practices for field preservation services and the intricacies of the pre- and post-sale phases of foreclosure, Ned, a local Texan, provided a hands-on demonstration of Compliance Connections. The combination of information and resources, which are both provided at no-cost to a municipality, can help code enforcement officers in being efficient and successful in their day-to-day operations.
The class was so well-received that Safeguard was asked by a code enforcement officer if another class could be offered in San Antonio. Because sharing information about the foreclosure process and effective methods for addressing abandonment is critical to creating and fostering partnerships between the mortgage servicing industry and cities, Safeguard quickly worked with CEAT to meet this demand and hosted a class the following month. Safeguard shared the presentation with code enforcement officers in the state’s second most-populous city in early June.
The request for a class did not end in San Antonio. The need for information and no-cost resources resounded in Austin, as well. A few days later, a similar presentation was offered in the capital city to the Austin code enforcement team. The request for continuing education about vacancy and abandonment reinforces the desire of cities to work with the industry to preserve and protect properties.
State credits and certificates were distributed following all three of Safeguard’s presentations. The Community Initiatives department is grateful for its partnership with CEAT and commends the organization on its solid reputation of providing members and non-members, alike, with classes that offer critical and timely information. Safeguard was honored to help build the skill sets of those code enforcement professionals who joined us in Lancaster, San Antonio and Austin.
