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66 Here are some of the things I learned: 5 KEYS TO DISASTER PREPAREDNESS Disaster preparedness is not just a written plan. at is part of it, certainly, but actually being capable of responding effectively in a crisis goes well beyond that. Here are five principles to bear in mind that will help you assume a prepared stance and develop a sound emergency response plan before your team is tested. 1. COMMUNICATE, CONNECT, AND PIVOT When disaster strikes, we are no longer able to operate as we have in the past. It might be a temporary disruption or something on the scale of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, but it means we have to pull our disaster plan off the shelf and put it into play. Without a written plan to use as a playbook—or even if you have one but no one knows about it—you've already failed. If your plan doesn't have one or more contingency plans built into it, you are also likely to fail. Too many smaller companies and providers don't have written plans, much less a contingency plan. Write the plan and then communicate with your staff, partners, customers, and other stakeholders to make it accessible to them. en, connect with them to practice the plan and determine gaps, if any. For example, it's great when working with a strong vendor that has a ready panel of appraisers, inspectors, field services personnel, and real estate agents at the ready. But what is the plan if the disaster strikes in such a way that these resources are compromised? Sometimes, the contingency plan dictates that you can't meet the original requirements for a situation, and you have to pivot. If your requirement is that you have a field inspector at a property to file a report, but resources are scarce, what are the regulatory allowances? Absent acceptable alternatives, look to reputable industry associations for guidance. In times of need, the governing associations work quickly to come together and create solutions. 2. COMMUNICATE WITH CLIENTS, PARTNERS, AND CUSTOMERS Compliance requires us to communicate with consumers, and most companies are experts at staying in touch with the customers we serve. Too often, however, we find disaster plans that don't spell out how clients and partners and providers will work together in a crisis. Bridging this gap is critical to supporting consumers. is is important because we are a task- driven industry. We are all subject to regulations that require us to do certain things and measure certain KPIs. ere are second- and third-order effects that trigger if those metrics are not met, creating additional requirements. Failure can occur on both a personal and financial level, and understanding that is essential to developing sound practices. It gets easy to fall into a pattern where you are driving your business by metrics and tasks. During a crisis, this can create a disconnect between your internal team and your partners, their subcontractors, and the communities being served. In many cases, the properties being managed during and after a crisis are unoccupied, but that is not always the case. It's also true that the individual providers who are deployed to assist us in local markets do so in an effort to help us meet our metrics, but are doing so under very difficult conditions. In the case where properties are occupied with a borrower or tenant, we've become much better as an industry at communicating with borrowers in distress. Default servicing has matured in its processes, policies, and procedures over the last five years. However, we're still working on dealing effectively with our business partners during a crisis and have much to improve upon. Our initial reaction may be to simply apply more pressure to these providers, but that is usually counterproductive. Our contingency plans must consider that our KPIs may not be satisfactory when these important business partners are, themselves or their businesses, compromised by a natural disaster. We need to have contingency plans and regulatory approval to take alternative actions in these cases. 3. CARE FOR BUSINESS NEEDS In a business as complex as home finance, every business relies on partners and contractors to do its work. When disaster strikes, it is critical that companies do what they can to help the vendors and providers in the field, especially those operating in Feature By: Angela Hurst Too many smaller companies and providers don't have written plans, much less a contingency plan. Write the plan and then communicate with your staff, partners, customers, and other stakeholders to make it accessible to them.

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