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» FiveMinutes VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM with Dena Grimes Assistant VP of REO Sales at Vericrest Financial, Inc. Dena Grimes heads up the REO sales division at Vericrest Financial, a privately held servicer of residential mortgage and consumer finance loans. Prior to joining Vericrest in 2010, she landed in the servicing department at Chase when, at the behest of the Federal Reserve, it stepped up in early 2008 to bring Bear Stearns' operations under the JPMorgan Chase banner. Among those operations was Grimes' employer at the time, EMC Mortgage. Grimes served as assistant VP of REO sales at EMC from 2000 until 2010, when Vericrest's new parent set out to bring the industry's best and brightest on board to cultivate the servicing platform it acquired from CIT Group. Since then, Grimes and her colleagues at Vericrest have built an REO department that consistently receives high marks for facilitating the quick and efficient sale of REO assets while maximizing prices.   What are your expectations for REO supply and acquisitions as we close out the summer and head into the fall and winter seasons? Sales have been good lately and I think that stems from a couple of things: low inventory in many of the major cities and low interest rates. But I expect to see the normal seasonal declines as fall sets in, and inventories will likely climb especially within the owner-occupant market. Combined with that, there are some industry-wide delays slowing the foreclosure process which is resulting in a corresponding deceleration of REOs entering the market. Those REO assets will eventually make their way to the market, but I don't see a tsunami flooding the market, just a steady stream of inventory running its course.   Can you take us back to that fateful day in March 2008, when the New York Fed retracted its $25 billion loan offer and the Bear Stearns empire began to unravel? EMC was a very strong company; we knew we worked for Bear Stearns, and we thought it was a very solid and secure career. When things started unraveling, it happened very quickly. That day in March 2008 came as a shock. Up to that point, we had been getting good information from senior management at Bear. When it all went south, we really came together to stay calm, and we were fortunate that the outcome allowed us to become part of the JPMorgan Chase family, which offered more longevity and security for its employees. What are you doing different on the REO side that sets Vericrest apart from other servicers? We are very conscious of portfolio assignments per asset manager, and we spend a lot of time and analysis on each individual asset. My asset managers don't just group assets into categories based on some numbers on the computer screen; they actually look at pictures, they look at BPOs, and they make the right decisions on whether to repair or sell the property as-is. We repair many properties, and that's helped to increase our recovery ratios. I'm very fortunate to have a team of asset managers with strong backgrounds that have given them a good foundation and good knowledge in real estate, not just servicing. What advice do you have for agents and other professionals working with REOs in today's marketplace? We have a responsibility to do our best on every asset. That's not to say sell it in 30 days, that's to say take into consideration the sales timeline and the value, and make the decisions that are appropriate not only for you and your servicer, but also for the community. To ensure the best recovery for the industry and for our communities, sell properties at true market value, not a discounted value that affects neighboring home prices. We should all strive to be a good neighbor and support the stabilization of the communities where we work. 23

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