Investor Update
January 2, 2019
Source: MHA
The secure login access for participating servicers and site search functionality will be retired on January 11, 2019. All site pages currently available under the secure login will be retired with this change. Due to the system release, the HMPAdmin.com website will be unavailable from 9:00 p.m. ET Friday, January 11, 2019 through 8:00 a.m. ET Monday, January 14, 2019.
Questions?
Email the HAMP Solution Center at Support@hmpadmin.com
Investor Update
January 3, 2019
Source: Freddie Mac
We’re publishing Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide Bulletin 2019-1 [PDF] to provide you with temporary selling and servicing requirements so you may assist borrowers who may have been impacted by the federal government shutdown. Please review the Bulletin for details on the following temporary guidance.
Selling requirements related to:
•Income and employment documentation and verification
•Processing of IRS Form 4506-T
Servicing requirements related to:
•Forbearance
•Servicing FHA, VA and RHS mortgages
•Processing of IRS Forms 4506T-EZ and 4506-T
The temporary requirements in Bulletin 2019-1 [PDF] are effective immediately and will automatically terminate once the federal government resumes full operations.
We will continue to monitor the situation and may revise or revoke this temporary guidance if the federal government shutdown extends for a prolonged period.
Please contact your Freddie Mac representative if you have questions.
Investor Update
January 3, 2019
Source: HUD (HUD Contingency Plan for Possible Lapse in Appropriations 2018 full version)
NOTE: At this time, HUD websites will not be updated until further notice.
Single Family Housing (Page 10)
•The Office of Single Family Housing will endorse new loans, with the exception of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) and Title I loans, under current multiyear loan guarantee commitment authority in order to support the health and stability of the U.S. mortgage market.
•Endorsements that require assessment by an FHA underwriter will not be able to be finalized during a lapse in appropriations; however
o FHA will support manual endorsement actions including case number cancellations, case number reinstatement, case number transers, and resolution of the hold tracking queue;
o FHA will review Notice of Return violations on pre-endorsement loan requiring FHA staff intervention;
o FHA will answer questions related to the efficacy of specific borrower data in CAIVRS to avoid borrowers being denied credit due to incorrect information on FHA loans; and
o While FHA staff will not be available to process condominium project approvals under the HUD Review and Approval Process (HRAP), lenders will be permitted to continue processing condominium approvals under the Direct Endorsement Lender Review and Approval Process (DELRAP).
•In general, FHA systems (such as FHA Connection, CHUMS, etc.) will be operational; however, actions that require intervention by FHA personnel will either be delayed or suspended.
•The Office of Single Family Housing will maintain the minimum operations necessary to support FHA’s existing portfolio, operating both the FHA Call Center and the National Servicing Center’s Call Center, the payment of claims, servicing Secretary-held notes and mortgages (including making payments required under HECMs assigned to the Secretary-Held portfolio), addressing emergency concerns with HUD’s Emergency Homeownership Loan Program (EHLP), and ensuring the continuity of FHA’s REO disposition process and servicer loss mitigation activities.
•The Office of Single Family Housing will advise the Secretary on pending settlement agreements that are at risk due to delay and that address imminent threats to persons or property by recouping or preventing further loss of MMIF funds.
•The Office of Housing will continue to work on planned sales of defaulted notes, as required for the orderly termination of HUD’s fiduciary insurance and servicing obligations.
Housing Counseling
•The Office of Housing Counseling (OHC) will not have staff on board and will not process requests to draw down grant funds from the Line of Credit Control System (LOCCS).
•The Housing Counseling system (HCS) will be operational on a limited basis; however, actions that require intervention by OHC personnel will be either delayed or suspended.
•The housing counselor examination (housingcounselors.com) will be operational on a limited basis; however, actions that require intervention by OHC personnel will be either delayed or suspended. The housing counselor certification processs relies on FHA systems and will be operational on a limited basis; however, actions that require intervention by OHC or HUD personnel will be either delayed or suspended.
Industry Update
December 17, 2018
Source: Lexology
The Court of Appeals of California, Fourth District, recently affirmed summary judgment awarded in favor of the mortgage servicer and loan owner defendants on the borrowers’ claims for alleged violations of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR), finding that the defendants properly contacted the borrowers and provided them with the required foreclosure information before recording the notice of default.
A copy of the opinion in Schmidt v. Citibank, N.A. is available at: Link to Opinion.
The plaintiffs (“borrowers”) obtained a loan in 2007, secured by their residence. In 2013, the borrowers defaulted and entered into a loan modification agreement with the loan owner. The borrowers then defaulted on the loan modification agreement.
On March 10, 2014, the then mortgage servicer sent the borrowers a letter that contained documents that outlined their eligibility and the protections contained in the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Between March 18 and Nov. 22, 2014, the servicer spoke to the borrowers multiple times regarding the status of their mortgage account, their financial situation, foreclosure avoidance options, and on at least three occasions provided them with a toll-free number for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The borrowers submitted a complete loan application to the servicer in March 2014, but the servicer denied the application. The borrowers did not appeal this denial.
The servicer informed the borrowers via letter on Nov. 26, 2014 that they could request copies of their payment history and the note, the name of the entity that “holds the loan,” and any “assignments of mortgage or deed of trust required to demonstrate” the right to foreclose.
On Jan. 14, 2015, the servicer recorded a notice of default for the loan stating the amount that the borrowers had to pay to bring their account current. The notice of default included a declaration averring that the servicer had contacted the borrowers.
On April 28, 2015, the servicer recorded a notice of trustee’s sale against the property.
The borrowers last made a payment on the loan in October 2013. The trustee’s sale had not occurred as of June 19, 2017. The borrowers filed suit against the loan owner and servicer. The operative complaint sought to enjoin the sale and alleged that the defendants violated the HBOR (Cal. Civ. Code, §§ 2923.55, 2923.6) and California Business and Professions Code § 17200 by not contacting the borrowers before recording the notice of default and properly informing them about their foreclosure alternatives.
The defendants moved for summary judgment supported by a declaration arguing that the undisputed facts demonstrated that they did not violate the HBOR or section 17200. The trial court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment. This appeal followed.
Initially, the Appellate Court observed that the HBOR, “effective January 1, 2013, was enacted ‘to ensure that, as part of the nonjudicial foreclosure process, borrowers are considered for, and have a meaningful opportunity to obtain, available loss mitigation options, if any, offered by or through the borrower’s mortgage servicer, such as loan modifications or other alternatives to foreclosure.’” Civ. Code, § 2923.4, subd. (a).
As you may recall, California has amended the HBOR since its passage, but when the servicer recorded the notice of default, the HBOR required the servicer to send a letter informing the borrowers that they have the right to request certain loan documents before recording the notice of default. See former Cal. Civ. Code, § 2923.55, subds. (a)-(b). A servicer or any other party also could not record the notice of default until 30 days after making initial contact with the borrower in person or by telephone to “assess” the borrower’s financial situation and to “explore” foreclosure alternative options. Id. The servicer must inform the borrower during this initial contact that they may request an additional meeting to take place within 14 days and provide the borrower with HUD’s toll-free phone number to find a HUD-certified housing counseling agency. Id. A borrower may seek injunctive relief “to enjoin a material violation” of former section 2923.55, before anyone records a trustee’s deed upon sale. See former § 2924.12, subd. (a)(1).
The borrowers argued on appeal that disputed material facts regarding whether the defendants complied with former section 2923.55 before recording the notice of default should have precluded summary judgment. The borrowers cited Mabry v. Superior Court, (2010) 185 Cal.App.4th 208, 215, to argue that whether a defendant complied with section 2923.55’s requirements is typically a “classic question of fact that” the trier of fact must resolve.
The Appellate Court noted that it construes the terms “assess” and “explore” narrowly “to avoid crossing the line from state foreclosure law into federally preempted loan servicing.” Mabry, 185 Cal.App.4th at 232. Thus, it limits exploration “to merely telling the borrower the traditional ways that foreclosure can be avoided (e.g., deeds ‘in lieu,’ workouts, or short sales), as distinct from requiring the lender to engage in a process that would be functionally indistinguishable from taking a loan application in the first place.” Id.
The Appellate Court found that the trial court correctly determined that the defendants “satisfied the requirements of former section 2923.55” before recording the notice of default.
Specifically, before recording the notice of default, the servicer initiated at least 11 phone calls with the borrowers, the husband borrower called and spoke to the servicer eight more times, and the servicer unsuccessfully tried to call the borrowers an additional 35 times. During the phone calls the servicer discussed the following with the borrowers: a loss mitigation review; their loan modification application; payment options; the HUD referral phone number; the possible sale of the property; and offered to conduct a loss mitigation meeting several times. This evidence “clearly establishes” that the defendants made a prima facie showing that they met “all of the contact and notice requirements of former section 2923.”
The Appellate Court also found that the defendants made a prima facie showing that they “complied with the requirements of former section 2923.55, subdivision (b)(2) by fully reviewing and processing” the borrowers’ “loan modification application before recording the notice of default.”
The burden then shifted to the borrowers to come forward with evidence sufficient to give “rise to one or more triable issues of fact.” The husband borrower presented evidence that before the servicer recorded the notice of default he did not recall any phone calls occurring or being offered a meeting to discuss foreclosure alternatives. However, he did not actually deny the contacts or the contents of the discussions.
The Appellate Court found this insufficient to create a triable issue of material fact “and entitled the defendants to summary judgment.”
The borrowers also argued that a material fact dispute remained because the defendants did not initiate the contacts. The Appellate Court rejected this argument because the evidence showed that the servicer initiated multiple contacts and because former section 2923.55 did “not require that a lender initiate the contact; rather, the statute requires only that the lender make contact in some manner and provide the borrower with an opportunity to discuss the borrower’s financial situation and possible options for avoiding foreclosure.” To hold otherwise would have elevated “form over substance.”
The borrowers’ argument also failed because a violation of the statute’s provisions must be “material” to support a claim for an injunction. Thus, when “the purpose of the statute is met — if the borrower has had an opportunity to have at least two substantive discussions with the lender regarding the borrower’s financial situation and possible options for avoiding foreclosure — then the fact that one or both of these discussions may have arisen as a result of the borrower initiating the telephone call with the lender or its agent cannot be considered to constitute a ‘material’ violation of the statute.”
Finally, because the borrowers’ claims for violations of section 17200 are predicated on their failed HBOR claims the trial court correctly found that the defendants are also entitled to summary judgment of their alleged section 17200 claims.
Accordingly, the Appellate Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment.
Investor Update
December 26, 2018
Source: HUD (FHA INFO #18-52 full version)
As a result of the Federal Government shutdown due to a lapse in appropriations, until further notice the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Office of Single Family Housing and its mortgage insurance program will be operating with limited services. As was the case in previous shutdowns, under a lapse in funding, FHA’s actions and decisions about which operations continue, or not, are governed by the Constitution, statutory provisions, court opinions, and Department of Justice (DOJ) Opinions, which provide the legal framework for how funding gaps and shutdowns have occurred in recent decades.
While some services will continue to be operational, please note that across the board, the services that remain available during the shutdown will have significant impacts to customer service and/or limited functionality.
Please see the information below for an overview of the business impacts specific to the Office of Single Family Housing and its Single Family mortgagees, Title I lenders, and other stakeholders in FHA single family transactions. Full descriptions and details can be found in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Contingency Plan for Possible Lapse in Appropriations document posted on HUD.gov.
The FHA Resource Center’s online FAQ site has been updated to include additional information about operations and systems availability during the shutdown (keyword “shutdown”).
Customer Service
The following will be available for general inquiries during the shutdown, but with limited staff assistance available, longer wait times for assistance, and limited ability to answer case-specific questions:
Insurance Endorsements
Lender Certification, Monitoring, and Quality Assurance Processes
The following process will be available during the shutdown, but with limited staff assistance available, and longer wait times for assistance:
Other Participants in FHA Transactions
The following processes will be available during the shutdown, but with limited staff assistance available and longer wait times for assistance:
The following processes will be unavailable for the duration of the shutdown:
Pre-Endorsement Loan Processes
The following pre-endorsement loan processes will be available during the shutdown, but with limited staff assistance available and longer wait times for assistance:
The following processes will be unavailable for the duration of the shutdown:
Servicing, Claims, and Asset Management
The following servicing, claims, and asset management business processes will be available during the shutdown, but with limited staff assistance available and longer wait times for assistance:
The following processes will be unavailable for the duration of the shutdown:
Technology Systems
The following systems will be available for use, but with limited capability for actions that require FHA staff intervention:
The following FHA system will be unavailable for the duration of the shutdown:
Training, Events, and Conference Presence
FHA will be unable to host any live or real-time web-based training events scheduled during the shutdown. Pre-recorded webinars will remain available on the Single Family Self-Paced, Pre-Recorded Training web page on HUD.gov, but will not be updated for the duration of the shutdown. Further, FHA staff scheduled to present at, or registered to attend conferences and other events, will be unable to do so for the duration of the shutdown.
Quick Links
HUD’s Contingency Plan for Possible Lapse in Appropriations document posted on HUD.gov at: https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/HUDCONTINGENCYPLANFINAL.PDF
Resources
Contact the FHA Resource Center:
Investor Update
December 26, 2018
Source: Freddie Mac
The current federal government shutdown will have no direct impact on Freddie Mac. We will continue normal operations without interruption during the shutdown.
For guidance on how the shutdown may impact your borrowers who work for the federal government, here are a few questions and answers:
We will be open for business. Please review our 2018 system and customer service hours of operation for Freddie Mac technologies.
If your borrowers are impacted by the shutdown, they’ll be eligible for relief options, including forbearance, as detailed in Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide Chapter 9203.
We’ll inform you immediately if there are changes to our business operations because of the shutdown. If you have questions in the meantime, please contact your Freddie Mac representative.
Investor Update
December 26, 2018
Source: Fannie Mae
Federal employees across the country may be affected by the federal government shutdown, including employees who work for government contractors, vendors, and other businesses that rely on work from government agencies or that offer goods and services to members of the government workforce in their localities.
We are providing temporary guidance on selling and servicing policies that may be impacted by the federal government shutdown that occurred on December 22, 2018. This guidance assumes that the shutdown will be temporary in nature. These temporary policies are effective immediately, and will automatically expire when the federal government resumes full operations. If the shutdown lasts for a prolonged period, we may provide additional guidance.
Selling Policies
Employment Directly Affected by the Shutdown
For borrowers employed by the federal government or other individuals whose employment is directly impacted by the shutdown, a loan is not rendered ineligible for purchase or securitization by Fannie Mae solely based upon the shutdown. The following guidance relates to our standard employment policies:
Government Verifications
In some instances, we require validation through a government agency, such as the IRS and the Social Security Administration (SSA), for certain documentation or information provided by the borrower. During the shutdown, these requests may not be processed. We are implementing the following temporary policies with regard to those two agencies.
IRS Transcripts: We require lenders to have each borrower (regardless of income source) complete and sign a separate IRS Request for Transcript of Tax Return (Form 4506-T) at or before closing, except when all of a borrower’s income has been validated by the DU validation service. We do not require lenders to obtain tax transcripts from the IRS prior to closing, but do require that it be included as part of the lender’s post-closing quality control processes (unless all borrower income has been validated through the DU validation service).
As part of the DU validation service, DU can validate certain income types using tax transcript data obtained from an eligible verification report. As a result of the shutdown, requests for those verification reports may not be fulfilled with the
IRS and may remain in pending status until normal operations resume. DU will continue to return validation messages for tax transcript verification reports received before the shutdown, but will not be able to access any new verification reports for validation.
Social Security Number Validation: When data integrity issues pertaining to the borrower’s Social Security number are identified, a lender may be required to validate the Social Security number with the SSA using SSA-89. Because these requests may not be processed during the shutdown, Fannie Mae is temporarily revising this policy to enable lenders to
obtain the verification prior to delivery of the loan. If the Social Security number cannot be validated prior to delivery, the loan is not eligible for sale to Fannie Mae.
Selling Loans Requiring Flood Insurance
On December 21, 2018, legislation was passed that extends the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) authorization to May 31, 2019. However, the NFIP may have limited ability to issue new policies, issue increased coverage on existing policies, or issue renewal policies during the shutdown. To help ensure the continued availability of mortgage financing to borrowers seeking to purchase properties located in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), we will purchase loans secured by properties located in SFHAs that do not have an active flood insurance policy as long as the conditions noted below are met.
Lenders are reminded that Fannie Mae accepts flood policies from private insurers that provide equivalent terms and conditions of coverage provided under the standard policy of the NFIP for the appropriate property type.
Conditions for Loan Purchase
This policy is applicable to mortgage loans closed and purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae during the shutdown. Until evidence of active flood insurance is obtained, a lender may deliver a mortgage loan to Fannie Mae on the condition that the borrower can provide acceptable evidence of
Regardless of the provisions of this Lender Letter, the lender remains obligated for all selling representations and warranties concerning the existence of a standard policy issued under the NFIP or an equivalent policy from a private insurer.
As a reminder, refinance loans secured by properties in SFHAs typically already have acceptable flood insurance coverage in place at the time of closing. Such policies only require a change to the mortgagee named on the policy if the refinance lender is not the original lender. As a result, these mortgage loans are subject to the above requirements only if the renewal date of the borrower’s existing coverage will occur during the shutdown and prior to sale to Fannie Mae. If coverage expires before the mortgage loan is sold, lenders must comply with the procedures described above, adapted appropriately to a renewal.
Lenders are advised to consult counsel to determine if they have the requisite authority to originate or otherwise deal in
such mortgage loans.
Servicing Policies
Servicing Loans Requiring Flood Insurance
The servicer must track properties securing mortgage loans for which new policies, an increase in coverage or renewal of existing policies would have occurred during the shutdown and must retrospectively perform all steps (insofar as permitted by applicable law) necessary to facilitate the issuance of proper flood insurance coverage. The servicer must retain documentation to support acceptable evidence of flood insurance.
Other Servicing Policies
The shutdown may impact a borrower’s ability to make scheduled mortgage payments. To assist borrowers who are unable to make their monthly mortgage loan payment as a result of the shutdown, the servicer can offer forbearance. The servicer must follow Servicing Guide D2-3.2-01, Forbearance Plan.
A borrower who is currently performing on a repayment plan or Trial Period Plan and is impacted by the shutdown may seek consideration for a forbearance plan. If the borrower does convert from a repayment plan or a Trial Period Plan to a forbearance plan, the borrower may subsequently be eligible for a repayment plan or modification upon successful completion of forbearance plan and if eligible, must be placed on a new repayment plan or Flex Modification Trial Period Plan.
Lenders who have questions about this Lender Letter should contact their Fannie Mae account team.
Carlos T. Perez
Senior Vice President and
Chief Credit Officer for Single-Family
Industry Update
December 26, 2018
Source: HousingWire
The government partially shut down after Congress and the president failed to pass a new funding bill Friday, and now, five days later, that shutdown continues.
Before leaving for the holidays, Congress did not pass a spending bill that included the president’s requested $5 billion in funding for a border wall, and President Donald Trump refused to sign any bill that did not include that funding.
Now, Congress is back in session and will once again begin trying to negotiate a spending bill. However, neither side seems ready to budge on the issue, meaning the government shutdown may have only just begun.
While about 75% of the government is already funded, this partial shutdown does limit part of the housing industry. For example, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would be unable to process new housing voucher requests.
The shutdown would also have an impact on the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The department would be unable to originate new loans or service existing loans. The department explained that an extended shutdown could have significant effects on homebuyers, homeowners and the economy.
“The shut-down of RD loan and grant making activities for a prolonged period of more than two weeks would have an adverse impact on the rural economy,” the Rural Development department stated. “Should RD not be allowed to continue loan and grant making operations for an extended period, the long-term impact would be substantially more serious.”
While the Federal Housing Administration will remain operational, it will furlough non-essential employees. This means FHA loans could experience a delay during the government shutdown.
And for the same reason, the furloughs of non-essential employees, lenders could also face delays for any transactions that need taxpayer information from the Internal Revenue Service.
The latest National Flood Insurance Program extension was also wrapped into the spending bill, which means it also expired Saturday. The NFIP can now no longer sell or renew policies, while existing policies will remain in effect until their expiration date.
However, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced it would continue its operations and would not be affected by the shutdown.
“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Congress, VA is fully funded for fiscal year 2019, and in the event of a partial government shutdown, all VA operations will continue unimpeded,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie stated. “We thank the president and Congress for their commitment to our nation’s heroes in funding VA, and stand ready to provide all of the VA benefits and services our veterans have earned.”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are not funded by the government, will also remain open during the shutdown.
Investor Update
December 21, 2018
Source: Freddie Mac
If the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) authority to issue new and renewal policies and increase coverage on existing policies expires on December 21, 2018, our policies on flood insurance remain unchanged.
During a lapse in the NFIP’s authority, Freddie Mac’s policies on flood insurance in Chapters 3401 and 8202 of the Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide (Guide) remain unchanged, including:
If a borrower applies for NFIP flood insurance, acceptable evidence pending issuance of a final NFIP policy may include one of the following:
Seller/Servicers that accept interim evidence of NFIP coverage as described above during a lapse in the NFIP’s authority must follow up once the NFIP’s authority has been reinstated to ensure that they have final evidence of coverage meeting the requirements of Guide Section 8202.7.
If a borrower applies for private flood insurance, the insurer’s binder or equivalent of the applicable NFIP form is acceptable. Private flood insurance is not affected by a lapse in the NFIP’s authority.
Investor Update
December 19, 2018
Source: MHA
Christmas Day Holiday Support and System Availability
Due to the observance of Christmas Day, the HAMP Reporting System response files will not be available between 4:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 24, 2018 and 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, December 26, 2018; they will be sent as soon as the system is available.
During this timeframe, the HAMP Reporting Tool will be available for servicers to submit and upload HAMP loan data files, and the corresponding Black Knight response files will be provided as usual.
The HAMP Solution Center (HSC) will close at 4:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 21, 2018 and will resume operations at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, December 26, 2018. Servicers may contact the HSC by phone or email at any time; however, phone messages and emails will be held in queue until the center reopens on Wednesday.
New Year’s Day Holiday Support and System Availability
Due to the observance of New Year’s Day, the HAMP Reporting System response files will not be available between 4:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 31, 2018 and 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, January 2, 2019; they will be sent as soon as the system is available.
During this timeframe, the HAMP Reporting Tool will be available for servicers to submit and upload HAMP loan data files, and the corresponding Black Knight response files will be provided as usual.
The HAMP Solution Center (HSC) will close at 4:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 28, 2018 and will resume operations at 9:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, January 2, 2019. Servicers may contact the HSC by phone or email at any time; however, phone messages and emails will be held in queue until the center reopens on Wednesday.
CEO
Alan Jaffa
Alan Jaffa is the Chief Executive Officer for Safeguard Properties, steering the company as the mortgage field services industry leader. He also serves on the board of advisors for SCG Partners, a middle-market private equity fund focused on diversifying and expanding Safeguard Properties’ business model into complimentary markets.
Alan joined Safeguard in 1995, learning the business from the ground up. He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer in 2002, and was named CEO in May 2010. His hands-on experience has given him unique insights as a leader to innovate, improve and strengthen Safeguard’s processes to assure that the company adheres to the highest standards of quality and customer service.
Under Alan’s leadership, Safeguard has grown significantly with strategies that have included new and expanded services, technology investments that deliver higher quality and greater efficiency to clients, and strategic acquisitions. He takes a team approach to process improvement, involving staff at all levels of the organization to address issues, brainstorm solutions, and identify new and better ways to serve clients.
In 2008, Alan was recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business in its annual “40-Under-40” profile of young leaders. He also was named a NEO Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award finalist in 2013.
Esq., General Counsel and EVP
Linda Erkkila
Linda Erkkila is the General Counsel and Executive Vice President for Safeguard Properties, with oversight of legal, human resources, training, and compliance. Linda’s broad scope of oversight covers regulatory issues that impact Safeguard’s operations, risk mitigation, strategic planning, human resources and training initiatives, compliance, insurance, litigation and claims management, and counsel related to mergers, acquisition and joint ventures.
Linda assures that Safeguard’s strategic initiatives align with its resources, leverage opportunities across the company, and contemplate compliance mandates. She has practiced law for 25 years and her experience, both as outside and in-house counsel, covers a wide range of corporate matters, including regulatory disclosure, corporate governance compliance, risk assessment, compensation and benefits, litigation management, and mergers and acquisitions.
Linda earned her JD at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. She holds a degree in economics from Miami University and an MBA. Linda was previously named as both a “Woman of Influence” by HousingWire and as a “Leading Lady” by MReport.
COO
Michael Greenbaum
Michael Greenbaum is the Chief Operating Officer of Safeguard Properties, where he has played a pivotal role since joining the company in July 2010. Initially brought on as Vice President of REO, Mike’s exceptional leadership and strategic vision quickly propelled him to Vice President of Operations in 2013, and ultimately to COO in 2015. Over his 14-year tenure at Safeguard, Mike has been instrumental in driving change and fostering innovation within the Property Preservation sector, consistently delivering excellence and becoming a trusted partner to clients and investors.
A distinguished graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, Mike earned a degree in Quantitative Economics. Following his graduation, he served in the U.S. Army’s Ordnance Branch, where he specialized in supply chain management. Before his tenure at Safeguard, Mike honed his expertise by managing global supply chains for 13 years, leveraging his military and civilian experience to lead with precision and efficacy.
CFO
Joe Iafigliola
Joe Iafigliola is the Chief Financial Officer for Safeguard Properties. Joe is responsible for the Control, Quality Assurance, Business Development, Marketing, Accounting, and Information Security departments. At the core of his responsibilities is the drive to ensure that Safeguard’s focus remains rooted in Customer Service = Resolution. Through his executive leadership role, he actively supports SGPNOW.com, an on-demand service geared towards real estate and property management professionals as well as individual home owners in need of inspection and property preservation services. Joe is also an integral force behind Compliance Connections, a branch of Safeguard Properties that allows code enforcement professionals to report violations at properties that can then be addressed by the Safeguard vendor network. Compliance Connections also researches and shares vacant property ordinance information with Safeguard clients.
Joe has an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and holds a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University’s Honors Accounting program.
Business Development
Carrie Tackett
Business Development Safeguard Properties
