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30 LEGAL INDUSTRY UPDATE NATIONAL FOCUS I N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T / D A V I D W H A R T O N As the final months of 2018 rolled around, housing demand remained high, while there were signs that inventory volumes might be on the upswing in some markets. On the default side of things, the low-volume environment continued as well: Black Knight reported that serious delinquencies hit a 12-year low in October 2018, falling by 14,000 from September and dropping by 90,000 year- over-year. Low, it seems, has become the new status quo, and it's anyone's guess as to when that will change. For default servicers and their partner law firms and vendors, thriving in 2019 will require applying the lessons of 2018 and continuing to evaluate how best to navigate a housing landscape that looks very different than it did a decade ago. "We often hear that there's going to be an- other bubble," said Andrea Tromberg, Owner, Tromberg Law Group. "However, we have been very consistent in volume for the last couple of years, so I don't see that changing, I believe we're in a new norm." THE NEW NORMAL "Servicers are scrambling to find loans," said John Ansell, Partner, Rosenberg and Associ- ates. "Investors are looking for loans. And the law firms are now chasing a smaller pool of files. Everyone is scrambling to keep their seat in the game of musical chairs." Ansell told DS News that he anticipates that foreclosure volumes will inevitably rise again, even if only to "revert to the mean." Meanwhile, 2019 will likely see interest rates continue to rise alongside home prices, as will rental prices as housing supply struggles to keep up with de- mand and affordability remains a challenge for many. "All those factors combined will probably indicate a higher volume going forward," Ansell said. is past year saw another spate of natural disasters, from Hurricane Michael's October impact on the southeastern United States to the massive rash of wildfires that set swaths of California ablaze. e industry once again worked to assist affected homeowners, building upon the lessons learned in 2017 and before. Financial services law firms are a critical partner for default servicers as they walk the regulatory tightrope. DS News talks to industry experts from this sector about the key legal hurdles facing default servicing in the year ahead.