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61 started; essentially, all of those were on hold. We can now begin to move those forward, so we're starting to see those sales. at is what will start happening first. We don't know what kind of volume we will be looking at. It's too soon to tell. Gagan Sharma, President and CEO, BSI Financial WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY CHALLENGES HEADING INTO 2022 FOR SERVICERS? Some elements are familiar from the past; some are more related to asking ourselves, how do you deliver an outstanding consumer experience? at is important. e economy is normalizing. ere is guidance coming out on what does one do with the CARES Act— how does one handle someone coming out of forbearances, and so on. e third thing that I always think about is reading about these natural disasters like hurricanes and fires— things that seem to be happening more often than they used to. For a servicer, being prepared for more of that and being able to support and help consumers through that process is essential. DO YOU THINK THE SERVICING INDUSTRY LAGS BEHIND OTHER SECTORS WHEN IT COMES TO TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION? IF SO, WHY? If I continue to think of those three buckets I mentioned, consumer experience is upfront and center. As individuals, we are all used to getting a different type of consumer experience. It's modern; it's digital. People expect to interact with the companies they do business with in a very digital-first way. at's an area that we are focusing on a lot. Historically, the servicing industry has been a very operations-focused business: I have to send out this many payments, send this many bills. With the changes in technology, consumer experience becomes more important. e core operating platforms have significant importance and a significant role to play. But really, what we want to be thinking about is the consumer experience and continuing on that path. Consumers want digital when they want it. But then they also need access to people when they need them. So, how do we get the consumers what they want, as fast as they want? I believe technology is the only way to do it. Companies and other industries have shown us that it can be done. Even in our business, compared to how we operated eight or 10 years ago, things are different and will continue to evolve. ere is a lot of activity happening on what I would call the internal workings, the internal workflow, and there's a lot of activity that still needs to occur on the consumer-facing side. Jeffrey Tesch, CEO, RCN Capital WHAT ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT ISSUES FACING THE SINGLE-FAMILY RENTAL SECTOR HEADING INTO 2022? e biggest problem right now is inventory. Now, I know it's been talked to death by so many different factions in the United States, but investors from all corners of the United States are aggregating single-family homes to build options for families. Not everybody wants to hope to own a home, but the surveys show most people would love to live in one. So, investors are aggregating them all over the country, and they're having a tough time building out those portfolios because there's just no inventory. As a result, investors are turning from aggregating existing single-family structures to building homes for rent instead. FOR INVESTORS CONSIDERING ENTERING THE SINGLE-FAMILY RENTAL ENVIRONMENT, BUILD-TO- RENT OR OTHERWISE, WHAT ARE THE MAIN FACTORS THEY NEED TO CONSIDER? Newbies just coming into the space, the first thing they want to do is make sure that they have a plan for property management— it's by far the most important thing they do. We encourage investors to use property managers from day one because most people are distracted by whatever they do for a living. "People expect to interact with the companies they do business with in a very digital- first way." —Gagan Sharma, President & CEO, BSI Financial