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72 Nevertheless, this was a crisis where the unknowns far outweighed the knowns. While this reality complicates the already challenging process of ensuring workforce scalability, Greenbaum explained that the fundamentals still apply. "We don't know what the overall impact of forbearance is going to be. We don't know what the timing or impact will be on the court system," Greenbaum added. "But our response is still based on our ability to scale our independent contractor networks quickly, so we'll use those same lessons learned." "Trained vendor capacity is also a concern as the spike in necessary preservation services will likely be significantly increased once moratoriums have been lifted," Smith told DS News. Greenbaum said that, whether REO volumes change significantly due to COVID-19 or not, the way the company has evolved its systems and workstreams will allow it to scale and to shift team members around to meet needs quickly and efficiently. "All the core fundamentals around what we do remain relatively the same, with a few adjustments," Greenbaum added. "ere's minimal ramp-up time to get people moved around." Mehok credits the guiding philosophy of Safeguard's founder, the late Robert Klein, with helping set the standard for his company's nimble approach. at approach demands an ongoing investment, according to Mehok: "In the company, in employees, in training, and in technology. If there's a quick ramp-up in volumes, we're prepared because of that ongoing investment in the long-term. Because of the experience in dealing with the financial crisis, with the natural disasters, we know that, as a company, you have to be prepared. 'Plan for the worst, hope for the best' is part of the culture." SHIFTING SANDS One aspect of the industry that became even more pronounced after the 2008 crisis— and in light of modern challenges such as the pandemic and increasingly damaging natural disasters—is a commitment to ensuring compliance. at can be easier said than done, given the complex and ever-shifting web of regulations encompassing the mortgage industry. As Linda Erkkila, Safeguard's General Counsel, notes, "When you have a natural disaster, you have a start and you have an end, in one geographic territory, and the response is somewhat familiar. [With this pandemic,] every state is impacted, the end date is uncertain, and every state can respond differently based on its impact. Everyone is trying to do the right thing, and they're acting very, very quickly—but then they're also changing very, very quickly. So, it's critical to keep up with the mandates but you have to accept those can change frequently during these unfamiliar times." "Fast forward a year from now, I can tell you that the different states and cities within will have all new things that we haven't even thought of yet," Jaffa said. "No one was thinking about vacant property registration in 2007 or 2008, and now that's just part of life in this business. In 12, 18 months from now, we could be in a place where before you do an inspection, before you cut grass, you need to let us know if the property was in a forbearance plan, for example." Mehok said that improvements in technology over the past decade have made all the difference when it comes to staying atop the shifting sands of compliance. "Now, all the communication we have with our vendor base is through a mobile device," he said. "ey collect information through that mobile device, whether it be photos or videos. All of the rules in terms of local-level ordinances, condition of properties, that can all be communicated to those contractors in real-time, collected in real-time from the field, and then submitted in real-time back to the investors and servicers. at type of automated workflow will put the industry and local communities in a much better position compared to 2007-2010." Of course, technology has also proven invaluable as the industry, and the world, moved to respond to COVID-19. As I write this, I'm seated at my desk in my bedroom, "It should be concerning for every community around the country that there are vacant properties that may not receive an inspection for up to a year." —Alan Jaffa, CEO, Safeguard Properties Feature By: David Wharton

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