Page 256 – Safeguard Properties

Hurricanes Could Bring Another Disaster: Foreclosures

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Industry Update
November 10, 2017

As life slowly returns to normal in hurricane-ravaged parts of Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico, housing experts and consumer advocates worry another crisis is on the horizon: Foreclosures.

Already, legal aid groups are working with people who are struggling to make mortgage payments on homes made uninhabitable by the storms, while paying rent somewhere else.

Although most mortgage lenders are offering grace periods for homeowners in disaster zones, the real trouble begins when those grace periods run out.

“I’m anticipating a wave of problems coming in February,” said Amir Befroui, a foreclosure specialist for Lone Star Legal Aid based in Houston. “It’s going to get worse before it gets better. We’re in the calm before the storm.”

Roughly 4.8 million mortgaged properties were in the paths of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, representing nearly $746 billion in unpaid principal balances, according to financial data firm Black Knight. In September, the number of loans that were more than 30 days past due rose 48% in Irma-affected areas and 67% in Harvey-affected areas, Black Knight found. The firm has not run the numbers for Puerto Rico yet.

Consumer advocates and government agencies are now trying to prevent those delinquencies from turning into lost homes and broken neighborhoods.

Soon after the storms hit, government-backed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac instituted a three-month suspension of foreclosure sales, late fees and credit score reporting, and allowed mortgage servicers to work out forbearance plans that could delay payments for up to a year.

Those measures help, but historically haven’t been enough to solve the problem.

After Hurricane Sandy hit New York and New Jersey, homeowners still had trouble resuming payments once their forbearance period ended, according to a 2013 report by Legal Services NYC.

For many, months of postponed payments were suddenly due all at once after that grace period ended, creating an insurmountable burden.

The other problem: Mortgage servicers tend not to release insurance payments until homeowners have a contractor lined up to make repairs. That’s a daunting task at a time when construction companies have months-long waiting lists due to a surge in demand, and homeowners need money immediately in order to clean out their homes and avoid further damage.

“You just have to go through this really bureaucratic process just to get some funds flowing,” said Joseph Sant, director of homeowner services for the non-profit Center for New York City Neighborhoods. “When there’s a disaster on a large scale, mortgage servicing companies are an integral part of the recovery process. After Sandy, they were just not ready to play that role.”

In New York, state regulators worked with Fannie and Freddie to avoid large payment spikes for homeowners. The state also worked with mortgage servicers to reduce some of the stringent requirements placed on insurance payouts, like getting detailed estimates from contractors and multiple inspections. But those actions came months after Sandy hit, and neither Texas nor Florida or Puerto Rico have taken similar measures yet.

For Anna Rosalez, a medical administrator in Houston whose home took on four feet of water, the process has been suffocating. She has flood insurance and found a contractor through a family contact. But the insurance company wants all the expenses itemized before it will release the funds to fix the house — which she says still won’t cover the full cost.

Meanwhile, Rosalez and her husband are living in a hotel, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency will stop paying for on Nov. 27. Her mortgage forbearance ends this month, too. So she’ll have to resume her monthly payments of $893, on top of everything else.

“We’ve had to spend money that we don’t have just to keep going every day,” says Rosalez, 60. “It’s very frustrating, very tiring.”

Last week, consumer advocacy groups sent a letter to Fannie, Freddie and other agencies in the mortgage business asking that particularly hard-hit homeowners be able to hit pause on their mortgage payments for up to two years. The groups also recommended that servicers immediately give homeowners $10,000 to fund urgent repairs.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie and Freddie, responded by allowing affected homeowners to extend their loan terms and issuing guidance for servicers to release more insurance money upfront.

National Consumer Law Center attorney Alys Cohen says that’s progress, but it doesn’t free homeowners from the burden of finding a licensed contractor in order to get the insurance money they need before rebuilding.

In addition, the policy changes don’t cover the approximately 40% of mortgages that are owned by private investors and banks. In Puerto Rico, that percentage is even higher. The island was already in bad economic shape before the storm and had a mortgage delinquency rate three times the national average.

Nate Hendricks is a Florida-based law firm operations manager who started the Puerto Rico Legal Project this past summer to defend homeowners facing foreclosure. He said the fact that many mortgages are held by smaller, local banks makes it more likely that lenders will move to foreclose.

Banco Popular, for example, is one of the biggest banks on the island and is only offering a three-month forbearance. In its last earnings call, it reported a $70 million increase in its quarterly loan loss allowance on the island, driven largely by mortgages that are delinquent and expected to go into foreclosure.

“There needs to be a moratorium, and then they need to set up special courts to hear these properties,” Hendricks says. “Because there’s going to be a slew of them.”

Source: CNN

Fast-Tracking Foreclosure

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Safeguard in the News
November 7, 2017

Editor’s note: This story was originally featured in the November issue of DS News, out now.

Carrying the weight of the largest consumer industry, tied down and stretched thin by so many stakeholders and painted black by the dashed American Dreams of troubled homeowners, there’s little wonder that the foreclosure system has moved along at glacial speed. Given the many “dangers, toils, and snares,” it’s a sure bet that countless citizens of crumbling residential communities across the country have believed that amazing grace alone could counter such calamity.

There does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel; however, the trend of judicial states implementing fast-track foreclosure statutes for vacant properties brings hope to a dense, difficult, and often depressing system. On the heels of its in-depth focus last summer on both the state of and challenges within the foreclosure market, DS News brings you the third and final installment in the series: foreclosure solutions.

Only two fast-track foreclosure laws are on the books nationwide—in Ohio and Maryland—but, according to Community Blight Solutions, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York could be the next to implement much-needed remedies.

“It’s all about keeping people in their homes as long as possible, but, once abandoned, a house becomes a liability,” said Robert Klein, Community Blight Solutions’ and Safeguard Properties Founder and Chairman. “Fast-tracking enables the mortgage servicer to get possession of the property before it deteriorates. This directly leads to on-time conveyance and faster rehab and sale.”

The new foreclosure law in Ohio, which took effect on September 28, 2016, expands the rights of mortgagees in advance of and during a foreclosure. The statute authorizes an expedited foreclosure action against vacant and abandoned single-family residential properties, allows the bank or servicer to enter and secure such properties, and criminalizes the damaging or diminishing of property in any way by a homeowner from the time they are notified of an impending foreclosure action. The law also “extinguishes an owner’s right to redemption of a mortgage on residential property found to be vacant and abandoned upon the confirmation of the property’s sale.”

Klein added, “No one will be forced out of their home by these new laws. There are clear protections to ensure that a property is, indeed, vacant and abandoned.”

The new law stipulates judicial and sale procedures for foreclosed residential property deemed vacant and abandoned, including the authorization of foreclosure sales by a “private selling officer” rather than the traditional public auctions conducted by a court officer or licensed auctioneer. It also requires the establishment of an “official public sheriff sale web site and an integrated auction management system.”

“The creation of fast-track foreclosure laws are the last tool that all states really need to adopt,” said Steve Salimbas, CEO of Agios World Wide, Inc. “When a property enters the foreclosure process it defies common sense for that property to be tied up legally for years. With this final step, properties will be occupied much sooner, which means they will be maintained and cared for. Blight will be mitigated, home values stabilized, and the health and safety of the neighborhood will be maintained at as high a level as possible.”

With a national crisis, especially one involving the country’s biggest consumer market, the best solutions come after examining how initial remedies came up short. In 2013, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and Amherst Securities Group, LP, examined 3 million REO liquidations and 1.3 million defaulted loans to estimate foreclosure timelines and the cost of delay. By comparing the time-related costs to date with those before the start of the economic downturn, the cost of delay came to eight percentage points on average. Statutory foreclosure states encountered expenses four percentage points higher, while judicial foreclosure states were hit with a 13 percentage-point bump.

“Combined with evidence that foreclosure delays do not improve outcomes for borrowers and that increased delays can have large negative externalities in neighborhoods, the weight of the evidence is that current foreclosure practices merit the urgent attention of policymakers,” the study concluded.

Michael Woods, AVP and Managing Attorney at Potestivo & Associates P.C. in Rochester, Michigan, maintained the primary reason for a lack of significant foreclosure delays in the Great Lakes State was that it is a nonjudicial one. (Fannie Mae found that judicial foreclosure states take 280 days longer, on average, during the foreclosure process.) One example is that a postsale redemption period for the distressed mortgagor can be shortened for the foreclosing institution when a property has been abandoned.

“The abandonment process has been used to reduce the number of unsecure and unmanaged vacant and abandoned foreclosed homes in Michigan,” Woods added.

Exit Ramp

The longer homes remain abandoned and uncared for, the more communities are saddled with blight and other problems. Some things just aren’t worth the wait.

“The potential for a vacant property to only be exposed to one or two seasonal extremes will lower risks and can help restore communities,” said Jerry Rowell, Managing Director of Assurant Field Services, about the benefits of fast-tracking foreclosures. “Vacant properties require higher levels of preventative maintenance and tend to have increased exposure to risks.”

The extended foreclosure process found in judicial foreclosure states means so much is left in the lurch—the property, servicers, neighborhoods, municipalities, and the real estate market in general. Increased time means more exposure, which means homes and thus neighborhoods are subject to greater deterioration, damage, community blight, and depreciation of overall home values.

“Court dockets exploded with foreclosure cases and in many circumstances states where a normal foreclosure could complete in six to 12 months, the process was instead taking up to several years,” said Rowell.

Fast-track foreclosure legislation allows a bank or servicer to petition the court to expedite summary foreclosure judgment and therefore move a property to resale much faster, according to Rowell. The financial institution usually must meet and document at least three criteria confirming that a home is abandoned or otherwise vacant before it can file the petition.

Scott Keller of Dyck-O’Neal, Inc., a Dallas-based loan purchaser, asset manager, and servicer, emphasized the importance of confirming that a property is, in fact, empty. Otherwise, a fast-track foreclosure solution may get bogged down, further delaying asset preservation and neighborhood revitalization. Kimberly Goodell, Assistant Vice President and Managing Attorney at Potestivo & Associates P.C., called the Illinois statute allowing for a shortened postsale mortgage redemption period based on property abandonment “very strict.”

“As a word of caution, it is important to get a more granular inspection to verify vacancy through neighbors, utility meters, perimeter openings, and other visual confirmation and photo documentation,” said Keller, Dyck-O’Neal’s Director of Sales and Marketing, who has 13 years of experience with loan defaults and 11 years in REO disposition. “These close and thorough inspection results will make a difference with the foreclosure attorney and subsequent court proceedings in an accelerated foreclosure process.”

The process facilitates acquisition by an investor, insurer, or bank so that entity can get it to market and all parties, including the community, can return to the benefits of occupied homeowner status.

Rowell said that two key positives to come out of the downturn were the fast-track foreclosure initiatives and investor and insurer focus on at-risk borrowers. On the latter, he shined the spotlight on the GSE-published guidance on Quality Right Party Contact (QRPC), which directed banks and servicers to ensure that a single point of contact was available to at-risk borrowers so that all the essential information, including account status and relief options, was available at all times.

The Fine Print

We all know the saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In the mortgage maelstrom that was the foreclosure crisis especially and in today’s complex, high-speed housing industry in general, failing to stay on top of loan details at the start of a process means sending them down the line where they only get bigger and more costly.

“One of the most common problems the industry encountered in the wake of the foreclosure crisis occurred when companies attempted to foreclose on loans with incomplete or incorrect information in the collateral files,” said John Hillman, CEO of Palm Harbor, Florida-based Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC). “We saw this problem crop up again when large portfolios of nonperforming loans began to trade hands. Sometimes improving the foreclosure process is really about preventing problems from occurring that wrecked the process in the past.”

In 2016, NTC reported on a portfolio case in which over 60 percent of the more than 160,000 loans contained “serious errors that would have killed a sale or led to drastically increased legal fees during default or foreclosure.” Business has enough variables; file accuracy and integrity, especially during a major crisis, should not be one of them.

“The client was not even aware of the problems lurking within its own portfolio,” Hillman said. “The moral of this story is if you’re not auditing the files you have to the outer edge your budget will allow, you’ll break your budget later with costs to remediate after the fact.”

Foreclosure challenges will vary by case and definitely by state with their different compliance rules, legal structures, and schedules. In-house standards of efficiency are an important way to navigate different market currents and regulations.

“It can come down to how efficient the default attorneys and bank/servicer are at their internal foreclosure procedures,” said Scott Stoddard, CEO of Quandis, Inc., a default management technology firm based in Orange County, California. “Our experience is that clients that leverage technology to automate foreclosure workflows, tasks, time frames, and compliance are able to much more efficiently manage the entire process. One of the benefits realized is quicker and less costly foreclosure proceedings.”

Purchasing Occupied Assets

A house in foreclosure limbo means a loss for multiple parties as the resident is not likely to perform maintenance if eviction looks imminent. The bank and servicer are not in the property management business, and an investor is there to make money, not to sink funds into a degrading asset. Finally and most noticeably, the communities are negatively affected by lower property values and when homes are abandoned, the higher probability of crime.

“The sooner the foreclosure process is complete, the better it is for everyone involved,” says Javid Jaberi, EVP of Single Family Residential Operations at Auction.com. “Until the real estate in question is sold, it continues to burden an investor’s balance sheet and hinders the stability of the neighborhood.” Jaberi cited the study commissioned by Community Blight Solutions and performed by Aaron Klein, former Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, that found a property triggers losses of approximately $150,000 in the first year of vacancy: $133,000 from reduced property value for neighbors, $14,000 in increased crime, and $1,500 in police and fire department expenses. Jaberi maintained that the best way to reverse course out of this value black hole is the purchase of occupied assets. Just like a leased commercial building is worth more than an empty one, investors are attracted to cash flow, which leads to a more attractive situation for all.

“By purchasing an occupied asset, investors can help sellers rid the real estate from their balance sheets sooner, provide the foreclosed family stability in their home, generate a new source of income, and prevent the property from entering the REO process,” Jaberi said. “To rebuild communities that have been negatively impacted by foreclosure and to benefit investors is to ensure that every home is quickly purchased by an investor or homeowner who values the real estate and the neighborhood in which it is situated.”

Affected communities will certainly trade the drifters, grifters, and bystanders for committed investors, both financial and emotional. The buy-and-rent strategy offers a stable of stability: the owners-turned-tenants avoid the uncertainty of having to find new housing and schools, the real estate remains a contributor to the local tax base, and the neighborhood bypasses the debilitating effects of blight and crime.

To accomplish this, sellers should first establish a reserve price instead of a list price. According to Jaberi, who has servicing experience at Fannie Mae, the reserve price reflects the seller’s estimated net proceeds from a standard REO outcome.

“If a reserve price is correctly calculated, 80 percent of the time a buyer can be found at a foreclosure sale or in an online auction the day after the foreclosure sale,” he added. “Once sold, a buyer that allows the foreclosed family to remain in the home gains an opportunity to earn additional income from rent the family is now able to afford. When buyers purchase occupied assets and allow the foreclosed borrower to remain in the property, the buyer, the seller, the foreclosed borrower, and the neighborhood win.”

Get In The Game

The foreclosure crisis had a profound and protracted impact across the country. Michael Harris, President and CEO of Glencoe, Illinois-based Exceleras, noted that Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago, Las Vegas, Memphis, Milwaukee, Tampa, Toledo, and Virginia Beach are still struggling with blighted areas filled with abandoned or REO homes.

“Part of making the foreclosure process better is making its impact on communities less catastrophic,” he said.

A complex problem such as the foreclosure crisis can lead to complicated solutions, which create more confusion and delays. The joint venture of Exceleras and M2 Asset Services, LLC, has chosen instead to empower communities through their nonprofit partners. Built on Exceleras’ DispoSolutions platform and leveraging M2’s experience, the result brings together the process knowledge and partners, including those in construction and home finance, for the community organizations.

“In the past, these organizations have been forced to stand on the sidelines, coaching residents and sometimes administering funds, but never being real parties to the transactions,” said Harris. “For the first time, community-based organizations will have the power and the connections required to heal neighborhoods. This puts them in the game, giving them even more incentive to ensure wins for everyone.”

Foreclosure ills go beyond markets or metros to, as NeighborWorks America’s Nicole Harmon said, “micropockets” that can be hard to properly target and assess. Struggling homeowners are too consumed by their own mortgage miseries, and major financial institutions aren’t inclined or designed to put boots on the ground. Nonprofit community organizations are the ones to effect positive change, which is why Exceleras and M2 Asset Services have provided them a complete default and asset management tech solution to acquire, rehabilitate, manage, and sell real estate.

“This is a great opportunity for individual real estate investors to participate in the rebuilding of our communities, and earn a good return while doing it,” said M2 Managing Partner Donald Maxwell, who once served as Fannie Mae’s Director of National Property Disposition Center. “It allows nonprofits to make more money with their services by having scale and access to the funding required to acquire these properties from sellers, like so many cities that currently own them. Secondly, it puts more people who deserve to be homeowners into homes of their own.”

Are We There Yet?

The National Institutes of Health found that foreclosures adversely affect health and mental health on both the individual and community levels. Although its conclusion certainly is not surprising— stating “programs designed to encourage early return of foreclosed properties back into productive use may have similar health and mental health benefits,” – the study does underscore how pervasive the housing problem was and is. All types of solutions are required, from the legislative to the innovative, as are hearts and minds.

Jonathan Dever, the Ohio state representative who captained the fast-track legislation in the state, told a story of a city in his district plagued by foreclosures. A councilmember recently called to say that since the new law was put into effect, all the zombie title homes targeted by the city had been fast-tracked and sold.

Source: DS News

Additional Resources:

DS News (Forging Ahead)

DS News (Eye of the Storm)

Exploring the State of Property Preservation

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Safeguard in the News
November 8, 2017

Ed Delgado, President and CEO of the Five Star Institute, moderated an expert panel on Wednesday at the annual National Property Preservation Conference, hosted by Safeguard Properties. Gathering mortgage industry leaders, servicers, and investors, the conference is an “outlet for all facets of the industry to collaborate on how to best preserve and protect vacant and abandoned properties.”

“For the past 12 years, the National Property Preservation Conference has been the preeminent forum that brings leaders from HUD, the GSEs, mortgage servicing, and field services companies together to focus on solutions for property preservation issues,” Alan Jaffa, CEO of Safeguard Properties told DS News. “Ed’s participation as moderator of a key conference session and his industry expertise have been paramount to the ongoing success of the event.”

The panel, titled “The State of Property Preservation,” included Jaffa as well as Ivery Himes, Director of the Office of Single Family Asset Management for HUD; Caroline Reaves, CEO of Mortgage Contracting Services; Terry Smith, CEO of Rushmore Loan Management Services; James Taylor, SVP of Asset Management and Preservation for Wells Fargo; and Jake Williamson, VP of Single-Family Real Estate Fulfillment for Fannie Mae.

During the panel, the group discussed important topics impacting the property preservation industry such as current conditions impacting the housing market, the industry’s response to the natural disasters that plagued Texas and Florida, current servicing policy, regulatory reform, and more.

Delgado launched the panel by touching on the current state of the marketplace, which is seeing rising home prices and the lowest unemployment rate in 17 years.

In addition, with many communities reeling from recent natural disasters such as Hurricanes Harvey in Houston and Maria in Puerto Rico, Delgado concluded that property preservation has never had a more crucial role in supporting the housing market.

After giving his own assessment on the state of the market, Delgado turned it over to the panel to hear their thoughts. On the question of if the market will soon see a correction, Delgado asked Rushmore’s Smith, “Is this the calm before the storm?”

Smith said, “We are on the precipice of another housing cycle.”

To navigate today’s changing landscape, during the panel Taylor advocated for a standardization of servicing rules. Taylor contributed to a recent whitepaper titled “Protecting Consumers and Communities” released by the National Mortgage Servicing Association (NMSA). Taylor is the Chairman of NMSA’s subcommittee on vacant and abandoned properties where he advocates for addressing the issue of vacant and abandoned properties in regard to instituting policies that standardize procedures, definitions, and best practices.

Overall, the other panelists agreed that general standardization makes sense but called on the industry and federal stakeholders to collaborate to work out the particulars.

Unsurprisingly, in terms of property preservation needs, the discussion quickly turned to the recent hurricanes, and the industry’s response to them. With a significant portion of Rushmore’s servicing portfolio located in Puerto Rico, Smith fielded questions about current conditions on the island. Smith noted that the condition in Puerto Rico goes beyond properties and assets—it’s a humanitarian crisis that we are facing.

Jaffa and Reaves also discussed the practical matters of handling staffing when the foreclosure moratoriums that were put in place after the hurricanes are lifted, and how to issues the process isn’t stymied.

During the the conference, Delgado also introduced Michael Braverman, Department of Housing and Community Development Housing Commissioner for Baltimore and a featured speaker at the event. Braverman has served the city of Baltimore for over 30 years, first as a prosecutor and then rising through the ranks of Code Enforcement.

Other sponsors for the conference included Gold Sponsors Altisource, Mortgage Contracting Services, SecureView, and Xactware; Silver Sponsors MFS Supply and M&M Mortgage Services; and Bronze Sponsors Assurant and Brookstone Management.

For more information about the National Property Preservation Conference, click here.

Source: DS News

Mortgage Professionals Come Together at Five Star Conference

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Safeguard in the News
September 20, 2017

The Five Star Conference Expo Hall opened Tuesday morning, bringing lenders, servicers, and a number of other mortgage professionals under one roof.

Include, the 2017 conference theme, was a topic widely discussed at the DS News and MReport booth where attendees explained its importance.

“We like the networking opportunities and being able to connect with different companies from a strategic standpoint,” Kiyoshi Hunt, SVP of ZVN Properties said. “We can meet a lot of the needs our clients have, and maybe uncover some things we didn’t know, and learn about different perspectives.”

Tim Rath, Director of Supply Chain and Vendor Management from Safeguard Properties also enjoyed the camaraderie and diversity of the Expo Hall.

“If you just look around at the industry, there are a number of different people from different walks of life that are here and have a number of different roles,” Rath said. “I think the Five Star does a great job of encouraging everyone from different phases of our industry to come under one roof together.”

In the midst of attendees was Operation Homefront President and CEO John I. Pray, Jr., Brig Gen, USAF (Ret). Pray discussed many attendees favorite event of the conference, the Military Heroes Keys for Life Dinner and Concert where five military veterans are presented with a mortgage-free home followed by a concert from rock band Styx.

“It means the world to be able to do this,” Pray said. “When you think about it from their perspective it is literally life-changing. It will give them the firm foundation upon which to build a very bright future.”

U.S. Army Sergeant Matthew R. Gaff and his family; U.S. Airman First Class Ryan Hampe and his family; U.S. Navy Seaman Shynae Murphy and her family; U.S. Army Specialist Kenyetta Cooper and her family; and U.S. Army Specialist Marchalle Couch were the recipients of the homes, which Ten-X Executive Chairman and Co-Founder Jeff Frieden helped facilitate.

“I will not stop until we have no homeless vets,” said Frieden.

Source: MReport

SecureView to Donate $100,000 to Red Cross Harvey Relief Efforts

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Safeguard in the News
August 29, 2017

The effects of devastation from Tropical Storm Harvey’s are still being felt across southeast Texas as the storm moves toward Louisiana. Multiple news sources have reported that nearly 50 inches of rain has fallen in the Houston area alone, and resulting floods have caused thousands to flee their homes in search of shelter.

Relief is needed, and one company in the mortgage industry is stepping up to provide it. Robert Klein, Founder and Chairman of SecureView, LLC, announced this morning that the company will be donating $100,000 to the Red Cross specifically to provide relief to those residents and neighborhoods impacted by the storm.

The Gulf Coast is no stranger to hurricanes—in 2008 Hurricane Ike passed over Cuba and Haiti before reaching Galveston, and is blamed for nearly 200 deaths. But Tropical Storm Harvey’s ensuing flooding is most closely reminiscent to Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall in Louisiana on this day in 2005.

Klein remembers what that was like. “In 2005, I witnessed firsthand the level of devastation and destruction brought on by Hurricane Katrina, impacting families and entire communities” he said. “The epic flooding and devastation that Houston is undergoing, requires a swift and immediate response from the industry to help all the people displaced by this horrible disaster, and we are happy to do our part.”

This isn’t the first time that one of Robert Klein’s companies stepped up to provide relief fund efforts. In 2005, Safeguard Properties donated to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund and in 2012 they helped recovery efforts in communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

“We encourage all companies big and small in the mortgage industry to join in the relief efforts,” Klein said. “It is important that we all remain united during this difficult time.”

Source: DS News

Middletown, PA Mayor to Host Blight Reduction Presentation, Aug. 14th

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Updated 8/14/17: ABC 27 (Harrisburg) released a report titled Local officials introduced to new tool to fight blight.

Link to article

Safeguard in the News
August 8, 2017

MIDDLETOWN, Pa., Aug. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Mayor James Curry and Borough Manager Kenneth Klinepeter are scheduled to host the demonstration of the latest resource for combatting blight in the central Pennsylvania region on August 14th at 3:00 pm.

Recent news coverage of the more than 400 vacant and abandoned properties in Harrisburg led to a roundtable discussion featuring Sen. John DiSanto (R-PA-15th) and Sen. Tom McGarrigle (R-PA-26th) on May 23rd. Joining them was Harrisburg civic leadership and Founder/Chairman of SecureView, Robert Klein.

At that roundtable, Sen. DiSanto said, “Blighted and abandoned properties destroy overall property value, and pose serious health and safety value to local residents.” Mr. Klein remarked, “We started SecureView to help communities fight back against blight using new technologies. Plywood boards are killing neighborhoods. There are a lot of different solutions to replace plywood, and we need to talk about all of them.”

Mr. Klein, who promised at the roundtable to return to central PA for a full demonstration, will show the nearly indestructible clearboarding material as it is installed, as well as discuss the overall financial benefit to communities. Polycarbonate has been recognized by several agencies, including Fannie Mae, as the best alternative to plywood for securing vacant and abandoned homes, schools, and commercial properties. Many governments, including the States of Ohio and Maryland, as well as the Cities of Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Chicago have begun to enact statutes and ordinances banning plywood boards when shuttering properties. Plywood boarding practices have been directly linked to decline in property value, reduction in tax base, and increase in crime. Clearboarding has been shown to counteract those negative impacts while still securing vacant structures.

Community Blight Solutions, the outreach arm of SecureView, will be on site to speak with local nonprofit and civic leaders about the impact of clearboarding. Mr. Klein has led several philanthropic and public/private partnerships for neighborhood stabilization throughout the housing crisis, and will be available to discuss the impact and discovery of funding sources available to communities. The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency generously provided the demonstration property in Middletown, Pennsylvania. “PHFA is happy to be a part of this demonstration,” said PHFA’s Executive Director and CEO Brian A. Hudson Sr. “The use of polycarbonate boarding is consistent with our mission of helping to preserve communities by preventing blight.”

The demonstration will begin at 3:00 PM, and will be located at 236 Adelia St., Middletown, PA 17057. Questions regarding the demonstration can be sent to Gene Veno, Senior Advisor, SecureView, at 717.941.0027 or gene.veno@secureviewusa.com.

About SecureView

SecureView is the leading security home & building board-up system. Designed to look like traditional windows, SecureView deters intruders while letting in natural light. Made from recycled materials, SecureView is virtually unbreakable, protects property from intrusion, and reduces the crime and squatting so often associated with plywood and steel board-ups. SecureView benefits homeowners, mortgage lenders, and communities by increasing the marketability of a property while simultaneously fighting community blight. To learn more about SecureView visit: www.secureviewusa.com or call 855-SCRVIEW.

About Robert Klein

Robert Klein is a successful entrepreneur who has earned a reputation as a pioneer and innovator in the property preservation industry. For 25 years, Klein has been a staunch advocate for eliminating blight in communities across the country. Klein is the Founder and Chairman of Safeguard Properties, Community Blight Solutions and SecureView, all based in Cleveland. Klein is a frequent speaker at field service industry conferences.

About PHFA

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency works to provide affordable homeownership and rental housing options for older adults, low- and moderate-income families, and people with special housing needs. Through its carefully managed mortgage programs and investments in multifamily housing developments, PHFA also promotes economic development across the state. Since its creation by the legislature in 1972, it has generated more than $13.2 billion of funding for nearly 168,500 single-family home mortgage loans, helped fund the construction of 132,531 rental units, and saved the homes of more than 48,900 families from foreclosure. PHFA programs and operations are funded primarily by the sale of securities and from fees paid by program users, not by public tax dollars. The agency is governed by a 14-member board.

MEDIA ALERT

Middletown, PA Mayor to host Blight Reduction Presentation, Aug. 14th

What: Central Pennsylvania community will see a demonstration of state-of-the-art technology to secure vacant and abandoned homes and reduce community blight.

When: Monday, August 14th, 2017, 3:00 PM

Where: 236 Adelia St., Middletown, PA 17057

Who: Invitees include civic and community leadership of central Pennsylvania, as well as interested community members, organizational leaders, interested industry managers, and related contractor, emergency preparedness, and project management professionals.

Mr. Robert Klein, Founder and Chairman of SecureView, will be leading the demonstration. Mr. Klein is a nationally recognized expert in the property preservation industry, and founded SecureView for the purpose of combatting urban blight. The SecureView system is designed to preserve properties not slated for demolition or active repurposing, and to deter intruders while maintaining a healthy neighborhood aesthetic.

Contact Information:

Media should direct inquiries to:
Gene Veno, Senior Advisor
SecureView, LLC
Direct: 717-941-0027
gene.veno@secureviewusa.com
Website: www.secureviewusa.com

For more information about SecureView, go to www.secureviewusa.com

SOURCE Borough Of Middletown and SecureView

Source: PR Newswire

Five Star CEO to be Featured Presenter at the National Property Preservation Conference

Posted on September 13, 2018January 15, 2019 by Safeguard

Safeguard in the News
August 23, 2017

Ed Delgado, President and CEO of the Five Star Institute, was announced as one of the featured presenters at the upcoming National Property Preservation Conference (NPPC), which will take place in Baltimore, Maryland from November 7-9. This year’s event will mark the 13th year of the conference.

“I am honored and humbled to have the opportunity to once again address the audience at the National Property Preservation Conference,” said Delgado. “This forum has been vital to the progress we’ve made across the industry, and it is important that we continue to work together to continue that momentum.”

The NPPC was originally conceived in 2003 when it was noticed that there was a concerning lack of industry conversation regarding the subject of property preservation. Each year, the NPPC strives to bring together servicers, investors, and leaders in the mortgage industry to discuss pressing issues in the industry and develop solutions through communication and teamwork.

“For the past 12 years, the National Property Preservation Conference has been the preeminent forum that brings leaders from HUD, the GSEs, mortgage servicing, and field services companies together to focus on solutions for property preservation issues,” said Alan Jaffa, CEO of Safeguard Properties, the host sponsor of the conference. “Ed’s participation as moderator of a key conference session and his industry expertise have been paramount to the ongoing success of the event.”

Delgado has been honored as a moderator and presenter at the NPPC in the past. This year, he plans on addressing the looming question as to whether or not the mortgage finance industry is on the verge of another housing bubble based on where the current market is heading.

“There are many similarities between the previous housing bubble and our current economic situation,” said Delgado. “As an industry, we have to be cautious as to not make the same mistakes as we have in the past, and I hope to highlight some key warning signs for my colleagues.”

To register, or find out more information about the NPPC, click here.

Source: DS News

The Siege on Communities: NMSA Calls for Action

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Updated 7/19/17: DS News published an article titled Mortgage Experts Weigh in on Vacant and Abandoned Properties.

Link to article

Industry Update
July 6, 2017

(NMSA) has issued a report calling on all federal agencies to work together in conjunction with the mortgage servicing community to institute policies that standardize the procedures, definitions, and best practices surrounding the treatment of vacant and abandoned residential properties, which, according to the report, “hurt communities and families.”

The NMSA issued a report on Thursday, calling for an industry-wide discussion policies that would standardize procedures, definitions, and industry best practices for vacant and abandoned properties. Under current law, many abandoned properties are subject to the same lengthy foreclosure process as occupied ones, resulting in extended vacancy and other considerable problems. The report was in part developed with input from several NMSA member organizations including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, BankUnited, Selene Finance, and others.

“The concerns presented by the proliferation of vacant and abandoned residential properties are, at their core, consumer protection issues,” said Ed Delgado, President and CEO of the Five Star Institute and Ex-Officio of the NMSA. “These properties can potentially have a devastating effect on surrounding communities because they often become magnets for vandalism, squatting, and violent crime. In extreme cases, these properties have even led to the tragic loss of life. Surrounding properties can expect to experience a loss of value—a significant detriment to the primary source of wealth for many American families.”

“Vacant and abandoned properties is a complex and difficult issue that is detrimental to surrounding homeowners and communities,” said BankUnited EVP and NMSA Chairman Ray Barbone. “The issue is evidenced by recent legislation in Ohio and Maryland. However, the industry remains challenged in protecting those impacted due to inconsistent and disparate definitions and guidelines relative to such properties. The NMSA hopes that this proposal for standardization of procedure, definition and best practices is a catalyst for dialogue that leads to the development of an effective approach to dealing with the issue of vacant and abandoned properties across the country.”

Though some individual states have proposed solutions to remedy the blight caused by vacant and abandoned housing, these have yet to be effective. “There is a disconnect between state and local governments that prevents clear lines of communication and a mutual understanding of the depth and breadth of the issue, thereby causing uneven treatment and disparate results,” the report argues. “In the end, consumers and the communities are the ones who suffer.”

Delgado outlined the problem in a letter addressed to the leadership of HUD, CFPB, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, OCC, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Delgado hopes the report will spur inter-agency dialogue to address the ever-growing problems that vacant and abandoned properties pose.

“The NMSA is ready to partner with all federal agencies in the development of common sense solutions that alleviate the tremendous strain that vacant and abandoned properties place on our communities,” he wrote.

The National Mortgage Servicing Association is a nonpartisan organization driven by top level executive representation from the nation’s leading mortgage servicing organizations for the purpose of effecting progress and change on the key challenges that face the mortgage servicing industry. By bringing together decision making executives from across the nation, the NMSA drives the conversation on shaping the American housing industry for the benefit of homeowners.

Source: DS News

The Hope of High Tech

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Industry Update
July 6, 2017

If you stop and think about it, the technology we use in our daily lives is truly mind-blowing. Take Google, for instance. When you begin typing a request into its search bar, the engine starts to guess what you’re looking for—even showing you suggestions while you’re still typing. This level of sophistication requires a lot of data and extremely advanced technology.

Can we do something similar when it comes to servicing mortgage loans? Yes, we can.

We are on the cusp of a quantum leap?in our industry, as the technology we use is catching up to the tremendous amount of data we already possess.

As we are all probably aware, the mortgage industry has not historically been known?as the most cutting edge, especially on the servicing side. But things are changing—and quickly. Mortgage servicing technology is starting to catch up with the vast amount of data we have accumulated over the past several years, allowing us to make full use of that information and improve what we do.

DIGGING THROUGH THE DATA

Most servicers now store more than 10,000 elds of data on every loan they service. Just a few years ago, the industry typically captured and stored no more than a couple of hundred data points.

Technology improvements still haven’t fully caught up to the vast amount of data we capture, but servicing systems have become much more robust over the last few years. In fact, in the next few years, we believe servicers will be able to use all that information already housed in their systems to make better, faster decisions that will enable them to improve customer service, lower risk, reduce fraud, and increase loan quality. The data is there, but we haven’t had the tools to fully exploit it. Now that the tools are within reach, we will be able to service loans smarter, better, cheaper, and faster than we ever have before.

PUSHING PROGRESS FORWARD

While advancements in technology are closer to making servicer data more actionable, there are several imperatives hastening it, making this change not just something that will be nice to have, but something that must happen—and soon.

Certainly, regulatory compliance pressures and investor demands are driving servicers?to improve, but so are increased consumer expectations. As we noted in the Google example, consumers today are used to pressing a button on a smartphone and getting what they want almost instantly.

We are already seeing that urgency on the origination side of our business with the advent of the digital mortgage. Consumers can now apply for a loan online and check the status of their application no matter their location or the time of day.

THE POWER OF DATA

By truly leveraging all this data, we will?be able to make our processes better and faster, while also lowering risk and improving quality. More specially, we will be able?to respond to borrower requests faster and more accurately. at will come in handy, especially given the regulations that require us to respond to customer requests—for a loan modification, for example—within a certain number of days. A combination of more data and better technology will reduce the time?of our response. It should also increase the quality of that response, which will, in turn, improve the customer’s experience.

Improved data can also improve overall customer service. An underwriter or loss mitigation agent, for example, will be able to resolve matters faster based on our historical experience with all of our customers. We’ll know what may work and what won’t—even before the customer calls.

While it is important to do things faster for the borrower, we also want to make sure we are not increasing risk in the process. Better data mining will enable us to better spot and reduce fraud. We will be able to track certain trends and patterns so that we can identify the potential risk of fraud and loss. This is just what our industry needs.

LISTENING IN

What particularly intrigues us is the use we can make of the recordings of conversations with customers.

We’re all familiar with the notice we get when we call a financial institution or other organization: “is call may be recorded for training and quality assurance purposes.” That’s not just an annoying disclaimer. In fact, we actually do use those recordings?for those stated purposes. We use them to make sure our employees are making the required disclosures to borrowers and are treating customers appropriately. We also use them to identify which of our call center representatives are doing a good job and which ones need to improve.

But instead of listening to just a sampling of these phone calls, enhanced technology will enable us to listen and learn from every single one of our calls. Yes, everyone. As we look ahead to the next year or two, we think that is the next step of advanced intelligence gathering.

You might be wondering, “With all of the tens of thousands of calls servicers get each year, what difference will it make between listening to a random sampling of calls as opposed to all of them?” The answer is a lot. In fact, the more data we can learn from, the better the results.

Another intriguing aspect will not just be listening to the words being spoken but being able to interpret what the customer is saying beyond the actual words, and identifying and extracting meaning from the borrower’s— and the agent’s—tone. We’re already seeing this speech technology being put to use on Wall Street trading floors to mitigate losses from fraud and unauthorized trades. Using voice data and other information, banks and securities firms can try to head of bad trades or illegal activity by their employees before they happen.

In the mortgage servicing realm, we’ll be able to ensure even better quality to our customers than we can now. In theory, if we can listen to all phone calls instead of a random sample of them, we’ll be better able to make sure all of our employees are always doing things the right way and providing good support all the time. I know for a fact that as a servicer, we do it a vast majority of the time.

The question is, can we go even further to improve the quality of the work we do? I think we can. is technology will enable us to improve the quality of our delivery?by identifying exceptions earlier and implementing fixes more quickly.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT

These phenomenal technological advances will make the next year or two an exciting time for mortgage servicers—as well as?our borrowers and investors. If technology improvements come even close to matching the increase in data capture we’ve seen over the past few years, taking customer service and quality control “to the next level” won’t be a trite cliché but a reality.

Source: DS News

NMSA Welcomes Additional Wells Fargo Representation

Posted on September 13, 2018October 9, 2018 by Safeguard

Industry Update
July 18, 2017

The National Mortgage Servicing Association (NMSA) announced that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (WFHM) SVP and Head of Servicing Change Delivery Gui Kahl has joined the organization. Kahl succeeds J.K. Huey, who retired in May, as one of two representatives from Wells Fargo.

“We are proud to welcome Gui Kahl to the National Mortgage Servicing Association,” Ed Delgado, President and CEO of the Five Star Institute said. “The level of leadership and expertise that he brings will serve the important work of the organization in the years to come.”

Kahl, who holds Master of Business Administration from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, master’s degree in Consumer Banking from the Consumer Banking Association, and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Transportation Logistics from The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, has a long history in banking.

Before his return to Wells Fargo in 2016, Kahl was the global head of process e-engineering and management at American International Group (AIG). Previously, he spent seven years in Wells Fargo’s Expense Management group leading the Global Solutions Strategy and Governance team. Prior to this, Kahl was with Bank of America building and growing the company’s global delivery capabilities for three years.

Throughout his career, Kahl has also had experience in the computer, aerospace, and oil industries holding leadership roles in marketing, operations, vendor management, and product development. Now, he oversees and is responsible for a number of things in WFHM Servicing, including all change delivery activities across the servicing organization and business transformation through the optimization of people, process, and technology.

With a membership comprising more than 80 percent of the mortgage servicing market, the NMSA is a nonpartisan organization driven by top-level executive representation from the nation’s leading mortgage servicing organizations for the purpose of effecting progress and change on the key challenges that face the mortgage servicing industry. By bringing together decision making executives from across the nation, the NMSA drives the conversation on shaping the American housing industry for the benefit of homeowners.

“I’m honored for the opportunity to work with the leaders of our nation’s leading mortgage servicing organizations to effect progress and change on the key challenges that face the mortgage servicing industry,” Kahl said. “Together, we look forward to improved and sustained homeownership by helping our industry become more efficient and effective.”

Source: MReport