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21 of bankruptcy. As soon as the debtor files bankruptcy, the servicer files a motion for relief, which almost puts up a wall. en there's a trustee involved, and the relationship between the trustee and the servicers were adversarial. We saw this whole thing is counterproductive where there's a lot of options in bankruptcy that are great vehicles for the servicer, the debtor, and the trustee to do this. e first thing that we did is we put together a program where we bridged the gap between trustees and servicers. What's ironic is their intentions and outcomes are really aligned. ey were always fighting back and forth, but they want the same outcome. We built a technology platform to tie together all the servicers and trustees nationwide, and then we built programs for servicers and trustees to work together. We created a protocol, a Consented Sale, which is basically a short sale in bankruptcy. What's different about our program is that we bring all parties into consent. So, this isn't a cramdown bankruptcy or something that's adversarial, or a court order type of thing. is is all parties coming to consent. What's really beneficial with this program is the savings that we have on every single file. e average $240,000 home, we saved the servicer and the investor about $46,000, which is a significant number. We have many cases that are well over a $100,000 in savings, and that is a serious difference. It creates a lot of goodwill for the consumer. A consumer files bankruptcy to get a fresh start. If they work to sell their home in bankruptcy, they have a bankruptcy on their credit. If they go through credit counseling, in 18 months to two years, that debtor can be bankable again. at's a fresh start. at's what they're all trying to achieve. If the home gets abandoned in bankruptcy, the debtor then gets dragged through foreclosure litigation, even though the debtor isn't liable for the deficiency, they are still going to have that foreclosure on their record. With our programs, the debtor avoids foreclosure and creditors settle the debt. is creates huge savings for the creditors, and they create goodwill for the consumer. What are some critical lessons or takeaways that servicers need to have in mind when they're working with a struggling homeowner? What factors do they need to be taking into consideration? One of the things we're doing to prepare for this upcoming surge is we rely heavily on our brokers. Our brokers are boots on the ground. We've put together a training program where we certify brokers as bankruptcy-certified specialists, and we train them so that they know how to work these situations in bankruptcy, and they know how to work through our program. en, if they need to reach out to the homeowner, they know what to do and what to say. ere's over 800,000 properties in bankruptcy between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 right now, and that's before the surge. Everyone's trying to predict how large that number is going to be after the surge, but it's a significant number. e majority of homes, even with our Consented Sale program, the trustee, in most cases, still abandons the asset. If they do, we then have a second tier where we take our brokers that we've trained, that are certified. We have outreach to that homeowner, the debtor, to discuss their options. We work on doing a short sale, and we work with the servicer to put that together. We bring together a structure and a deal that works both for the servicer and the debtor, and it ends up being a win-win for both sides. You've been in the industry for more than three decades now, so that's a long time to deal with anything. What are some of the top lessons and takeaways that you've learned from your career thus far? e biggest one is that bankruptcy is extremely complicated. Every case is completely different, and the direction that they go can be completely different. For servicers, that's in most cases problematic, because a servicer likes to have a structure and a plan. If it's in bankruptcy, we go down this path. ere really isn't a "one size fits all" for bankruptcy. at's where the complexities come in, trying to manage these things on a national scale and in all different situations. We've created what we call a Bankruptcy Advisory Service, where we work with the servicer and their legal counsel, and we advise them on what we see as the best path. What we do that's different is that servicers and their counsel tend to look at court data to make their decision, and that's just really a small piece of the case. We do a number of other things that haven't been done before, where we actually reach out and have dialogue with the trustee. e direction the trustees go makes a big difference to the options available to the servicer. By meeting with the trustee, finding out their intentions, getting their direction in line with the servicer's direction, we're able to put together deals that are win-win for both sides. "We bring together a structure and a deal that works both for the servicer and the debtor, and it ends up being a win-win for both sides."

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