?Foreclosure Fast-Tracking:? A Field Servicer?s Perspective??

Slowing down the foreclosure process to help encourage home retention makes sense, but once a property is certified as vacant, speeding up the foreclosure process has universal benefits.????

The federal government and state and local legislatures across the country have struggled to find ways to lessen the impact of the housing crisis.? In an attempt to reduce the number of foreclosed and vacant homes, legislators have introduced various initiatives targeting the foreclosure process itself.? These range from the federal government?s moratorium on foreclosures to various states? proposals to either lengthen or shorten time requirements for taking properties through the foreclosure process.???

The state of Colorado, for example, recently introduced a bill that would shorten the time it takes for a lender to take a property through the foreclosure process.? Similarly, Rep. Tom Grady of Naples, Fla., has filed legislation that he says would substantially truncate the state?s foreclosure process. The General Assembly in Georgia, on the other hand, with one of the fastest foreclosure processes in the country, is considering legislation to slow it down.???

As diverse as these proposals are, one aspect they share is good intentions.? These and other states that are considering similar measures, share a common desire to reduce the number of vacant homes and prevent the devastating impact that vacant properties have on neighborhoods and communities.? Despite the best intentions, however, the key to effective legislation is what ultimately happens in the practical application of these measures.? In many cases, an idea that looks good on paper can actually create a worse situation than the one it is designed to improve.? For this reason, it is useful to consider the potential impact of various foreclosure proposals through the lens of a mortgage field servicer.???

Mortgage field servicers are the eyes and ears of the mortgage servicing industry.? They are the companies hired to inspect and maintain millions of vacant defaulted and foreclosed homes across the country.? Field service companies arguably offer the best ?on the ground? perspective to evaluate the real impact of foreclosure-related legislation on properties, neighborhoods and communities.????

When a homeowner defaults on a loan, the field servicer begins monthly inspections of the property on behalf of its mortgage servicing client to verify the occupancy status of the property.? ?While the home is in default, the servicer is attempting to reach the borrower to discuss a work-out arrangement.????

A common public misperception is that mortgage companies want to remove defaulted borrowers from their homes.? In fact, the opposite is true.? Mortgage companies make great efforts to keep borrowers in their homes.? Mortgage companies, which exist to promote homeownership, know that an occupied property maintains its value better, is safer and better protected than a vacant property.? An occupied property is less of a nuisance to neighbors and communities than a vacant property because it is less likely to attract vandals and other criminal activity.????

Our field service experience is that more than 20% of the defaulted properties we inspect will become vacant- in other words, abandoned by the homeowners.? These are homeowners who have made a conscious choice, for whatever reason, to leave their home, often without ever contacting their mortgage company.????

When homes are initially abandoned, field servicers will verify that most are in livable condition.? The properties may not be pristine, but they are habitable, especially by a first-time home buyer willing to invest a bit of ?sweat equity? to have an opportunity to create a comfortable home to raise a family.??

In some cases, a homeowner may damage a property before abandoning it, but these damages usually are not serious enough to make the property inhabitable; the most expensive and irreversible damage to properties occurs over time.????

The servicing industry spends billions of dollars each year inspecting and maintaining vacant properties.? As an industry standard, vacant properties are inspected at least on a monthly basis to check for leaks and other structural issues and to make sure they are secure.? In cold climates, pipes are winterized.? In all properties, broken windows and doors are secured, hazardous chemicals are removed, and infestations are exterminated.? Yard debris is removed, and lawns receive regular maintenance.??? ?

While field servicing certainly slows the deterioration of vacant properties, even these properties will decline over time, no matter how much maintenance and attention they receive.? The irony from a mortgage servicing perspective is that the longer a property sits vacant, the more money is invested, and the less valuable the asset becomes.???

Vacant properties are also expensive and burdensome for municipalities in countless ways.?? They impact the quality of life for neighbors, who often have to endure drug activity, vandalism and nuisances that vacant properties attract.? They are a drain on safety forces, as vacant properties result in more calls for police and fire protection.? As vacant property values decline, so do the property values of other homes in the neighborhood.? With lower property values come lower tax valuations and major hits on already strapped city budgets.

A Chicago study in 2005 concluded that each vacant property cost municipalities upwards of $34,000 per year for additional police and fire protection, court action, inspections, tax losses, unpaid utilities and potential demolition.? That number would undoubtedly be higher if the study were repeated today, as vacant properties now sit even longer and cause even greater harm to neighborhoods and communities.??

For years, the mortgage servicing industry has worked with communities to help address issues related to vacant and abandoned properties.? Outreach to code enforcement officials, stickers on vacant properties with 24-hour contact information, ?good neighbor? door hangers to invite neighbors to report problems, and other efforts have been important to allow servicers to respond more quickly when issues arise.? In the past year, an initiative between the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) has allowed hundreds of cities to tap into the MERS system free of charge to obtain contact information for more than 65 million properties registered on the system.???

The strongest collaboration between mortgage servicers, their property preservation field servicers and cities cannot, however, replace the value of having an occupant in a home. When a homeowner is present, every effort should be made to help that homeowner remain in his or her home and legislation to support that is good for everyone.????

Unfortunately, when that legislation also prevents a vacant property from moving through the foreclosure process so that it can be reoccupied more quickly, it can actually create more harm, cost and burden for neighborhoods and communities.? The reality is that no single solution can be a ?magic bullet? for all situations.? The housing and mortgage crisis in the U.S. is a complicated mosaic.? We need laws that recognize different situations and allow flexibility to accommodate those distinctions. ?

Once a property is certified vacant, putting it on a fast track to foreclosure would benefit everyone.? Communities win because the property can return more quickly to contributing to the tax base, and poses less risk and burden on city services and courts.? ?

Neighborhoods win because property values are maintained, and the property is more likely to attract a strong buyer who will be a good neighbor and take care of the property.

Servicers win because the property maintains collateral value and does not require a lengthy and expensive property preservation process.????????

Robert Klein is founder and CEO of Safeguard Properties, the largest privately held mortgage field services company in the U.S. ?He can be contacted at (800) 852-8306.

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About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held field services company in the country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1990 by Robert Klein, Safeguard has grown from a regional preservation company with a few employees and a handful of contractors performing services in the Midwest, to a national company with over 700 employees. Safeguard is supported by a nationwide network of subcontractors able to perform any requested superintendence, preservation, and maintenance functions, as well as numerous ancillary services in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.

Nobody knows when the current mortgage crisis will end, but the consensus seems to be that it will continue until the nation?s unemployment rate, which hovers around 10 percent, levels off.

? RealtyTrac? reported that in 2009 a record 2.8 million homes in the U.S. received foreclosure filings, a 21 percent increase over 2008 and 120 percent over 2007.

? The Mortgage Bankers Association predicted that in 2010, home loan originations will decline 40 percent because of higher interest rates and continuing high levels of employment.

Based on these reports, we can conclude that for the foreseeable future, our industry can expect high REO inventories to continue and greater challenges in marketing and maintaining REO properties. Never has the need been stronger for creative strategies and strong collaboration between those of us tasked with helping our clients maximize the return on REO properties.

Outlined below are strategies field servicers should embrace to support brokers in shortening sales cycles and helping clients to realize a reasonable return on their investment.

Deliver ?bang for the buck?

The seller and the prospective REO buyer want the same thing ? a bang for their buck. It?s the broker?s role to decide what investment will make the biggest impact on both sides ? determining the optimal upgrades that will appeal to the widest potential market and also provide a reasonable financial return to the seller.

It is the field servicer?s role to deliver it ? in a timely manner, for the best price, and at the highest quality. That means identifying the right contractors for the job and having a sufficient network of qualified local vendors to meet deadlines. It also means providing a fixed price for the work, with no surprises, documenting all services, and assuring that all work complies with city code requirements and municipal laws.

Field servicers must employ a vigorous quality control process to monitor all aspects of work performed ? schedules, budgets, work quality, and compliance. That process should be made clear to the broker and the client in advance.

Provide ?one stop service?

The broker?s job is to position the property and to target buyers. It isn?t their job to manage repairs or keep track of the maintenance process.

From a property maintenance and repair standpoint, field servicers need to be the interface between the broker, the client and contractors who perform the work. All parties involved need a single point of contact to manage all requests on the client?s behalf related to a particular property, and to address all issues that arise at the property. The field servicer should be that contact.

All parties should receive regular updates about a property?s status. Brokers and clients also should have easy access to all property information around-the-clock, and someone to call with questions.

Go the extra mile

In a highly competitive REO market, even the most effective property enhancement may not be enough to sell a property as fast as everyone would like. Sometimes, it?s the attention to the tiniest details that make the biggest difference.

Good field servicers find ways to add value and make a property stand out to a prospective buyer, to help the buyer envision themselves in their future home.

Ask your field servicer to tell you how they go the extra mile to help enhance the value of your property and make it stand out in a crowded real estate marketplace. In the REO world, time is money, and it is the field servicer?s role to help brokers and their mutual clients save both.

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About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held field services company in the country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1990 by Robert Klein, Safeguard has grown from a regional preservation company with a few employees and a handful of contractors performing services in the Midwest, to a national company with over 700 employees. Safeguard is supported by a nationwide network of subcontractors able to perform any requested superintendence, preservation, and maintenance functions, as well as numerous ancillary services in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.