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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 65 borrower to delay what is often inevitable, the loss of their home through a foreclosure process. Given the fact that, in today's highly regulated environment, the real harm to borrowers in servicing is rare, frequently borrower's counsels are left with the only strategy they have to accomplish their clients' goals. ey challenge the veracity of the underlying foreclosure process itself, whether at the servicer or at the foreclosure firm. We have learned that the most interested party in defending a compliant foreclosure, is the party conducting it—the foreclosure firm used in the underlying foreclosure action. e foreclosure firm is responsible for ensuring under their state's legal framework and federal law that files are in ship shape at every juncture of the process. Who better to address challenges to the underlying action, than the firm that did the doing? Additionally, the business line firms are incentivized to succeed because their business depends on client service to generate referrals. With low default volume, the competition is fiercer than ever, and the business line firms are keenly aware that the stakes are high. » Would you rather pay a legal expert $20,000 to resolve your lawsuit, or a foreclosure legal expert $10,000 to resolve your lawsuit? is is neither breaking news nor a shocking revelation. Your business line foreclosure and bankruptcy attorney network are regulated by governmental agencies requiring caps on the fees and expenses associated with litigation. eir rates are fundamentally lower and require approval for anything above or beyond the norm. In a high-level cost analysis of our legal spend in 2018, we found that for an average foreclosure avoidance matter, we would spend between $15,000 and $25,000 on legal fees (on matters not going to trial). Applying the same files to the capped foreclosure/bankruptcy firm hourly rate structure would yield at 30-50% savings, by simply keeping the file with the local experts—the business line attorney network. Assuming you close 100 matters in a year, this initiative could save you $500,000 annually, with zero overhead associated with changing this strategy. » Et cetera. While the straightforward math and the limited implementation cost yields a direct financial benefit to the bottom line, there are some potential intrinsic benefits to leveraging the business line attorney. We can also hypothesize cost savings in the approach to file management. Namely, your foreclosure and bankruptcy network firms are in the business of practicing foreclosure and bankruptcy law—it is what they know. Further, in any given state, this also means that you are allowed to have a much higher expectation of efficiency with the management of your matter—this is what they do. Your business line foreclosure and bankruptcy attorney network should know the players (both plaintiff's counsel, and the judiciary), have the experience with the right arguments to plug and play into your matters (brief banks), and have previously synthesized almost every legal issue that could be presented. In short, you should not be billed for excess legal research, motion practice, and brief writing. Finally, and the key to the underlying resolution of these matters, they tend to have a higher level of expertise with investor/insurer level requirements—they recognize the stakeholders in the case. e business-line firm's operations are evaluated by these requirements, and thus, the firm's ability to maintain a viable practice depends on this knowledge. As more than half of these matters resolve with some sort of loss mitigation solution, this is of critical importance. In potential contrast, the legal department networks are frequently comprised of lawyers from national firms, with a recognizable name, with smart and capable lawyers from notable law schools; they will likely do a good job. ese service providers are legal experts, no doubt. However, because they are typically used to managing larger, high-stakes, high-dollar matters, they are not spending their hours becoming experts in state-level foreclosure matters, developing the brief banks, or developing a relationship with the local bar. Moreover, it doesn't make financial sense for these firms (with multiple locations, and generally higher paid associates), to reduce their hourly rates for less complex matters. ere are cases that come through the door that will be best managed by these firms and some that aren't. Knowing the difference is key. In philosophy, a razor is a rule of thumb that allows one to avoid unnecessary actions. In default servicing, the best solution is often the quickest solution, which has a clear potential of mitigating risk and reducing cost. We would suggest "doing nothing" like us, and adding your business line foreclosure and bankruptcy firms to your legal department network. e foreclosure firm is responsible for ensuring under their state's legal framework and federal law that files are in ship shape at every juncture of the process. Who better to address challenges to the underlying action, than the firm that did the doing?

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