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56 Who would've thought 2020 would turn out like this? We started the year with historically low delinquency rates, and February went on record as a "generational low" for delinquencies and foreclosures. Until March, default servicing had been moving along at a dull hum. e next thing you know, a global pandemic and another wave of natural disasters delivered a one-two punch for the ages. COVID-19 hit and hit hard, with unemployment reaching a 50-year high in April while the number of borrowers in forbearance soared to nearly 5 million. Scaling to address millions of borrowers in need of relief while transitioning employees to work remotely from home has continued to keep servicers scrambling to answer calls, place borrowers in loss mitigation alternatives, and incorporate temporary accommodations issued by investors. Just as mortgage servicers were able to draw a breath, the 2020 hurricane season opened at a fast and furious rate— breaking records at the onset—followed by another surge in wildfires. As one of the most tumultuous and unpredictable years in the mortgage industry's history draws to a close, mortgage servicers can only wonder what comes next. However, if we've learned anything over the past eight months, it is that mortgage servicers need just as much relief as their borrowers do. With the right technology—and the right partner—they can get it. DEFERRALS, DEFAULTS, DISASTERS As was the rest of the country, most servicers were caught entirely off guard by the severity and speed of the pandemic's impact. Even the best of default servicing operations and systems struggled to scale at the needed velocity. ere were also challenges in providing Feature By: Jane Mason HOW SMART SERVICERS ADD CERTAINTY IN UNCERTAIN TIMES COVID-19 and new waves of natural disasters have forced the industry to adapt rapidly.