37
Five Star Virtual Conference 2020
over the cubicle wall when they need a little
bit of help. ere's also the camaraderie that
comes from working in close-knit teams,
particularly when you're a company like
Shellpoint where a very small percentage of
our folks pre–COVID-19 were working from
home—maybe 10%, probably close to 5%."
Stanley Middleman, CEO of Freedom
Mortgage, recalled how his company
transitioned from "a ursday when we
were working in our office and business
was as usual [to a] Tuesday the following
week [when] we woke up and 98% of
our population is working from home."
He believed the nimbleness of mortgage
companies to take on this abrupt shift is the
year's most important story.
"e big takeaway was that not only
could we survive and succeed and do our jobs,
but we could actually thrive," he said. "Out
of all this, we've become boundless in our
opportunity. We've been breaking record after
record every month in originations, and all
the while we were supporting over 100,000
requests for forbearance, generating huge
volumes of originations, and hiring 1,000 and
1,200 people a month through each of the last
three or four months. e lessons learned here
are multifaceted."
Terry Smith, CEO of Rushmore Loan
Management Services, went even further in
praising the industry's ability to meet and
overcome pandemic-era challenges.
"We were able to turn the switch off from
being in the office on one day and five days
later we were up and running," he said of the
industry's remote workforce. "I think we've
done a great job. All of our employees are
really the frontline heroes of the industry."
"As a collective
body, we are an
industry that is
the heart and
soul of America,
We make home
possible, and
we stand at the
ready to protect
and defend that
dream each and
every day, for
this industry was
built to overcome
challenges."
—Chairman Emeritus
of Five Star Global, Ed Delgado
1. Brig. Gen. John I. Pray, CEO and
President, Operation Homefront,
during the military veteran donation
presentation sponsored by Auction.com.
2. Lindsey Pryor, Senior Manager of
Business Development, Altisource Field
Services, speaking during the "Loss
Mitigation Update" panel. 3. Ali Haralson,
Chief Business Development Officer,
Auction.com, during the military veteran
donation presentation sponsored by
Auction.com. 4. Jeff Tennyson, CEO,
Lima One Capital, speaking during the
"Emerging Markets" panel.
4.
3.
