DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/1470604
18 Have you seen any changes in terms of borrow responsiveness over the course of the pandemic? e opt-in rates for loss mitigation are very high. e vast majority of borrowers are responsive. I think this is reflective of the fact that these are atypical defaults. Most of these borrowers have never been delinquent. ey've made their mortgage payments on time, and this pandemic came out of nowhere and caused so much disruption. ey were, day one, calling in, asking, "What can I do?" at was, by far, the majority of our delinquent borrowers. ese are the borrowers that are through a reset option and current. Now that the pandemic is waning, we are left with a smaller population of borrowers who don't engage. Many of these may have already moved on from the property. is group represents your more typical default population. To address this group, we are providing post- referral solicitations and in-person outreach. We have had significant success with these strategies. HAF (Homeowners Assistance Fund) programs have also been gaining traction, providing an additional path to resets and increasing the overall response rate. What do you anticipate as far as default and foreclosure volumes heading into 2023? at's the elephant in the room. e pandemic is waning, but what happens next? Nobody has a crystal ball, a year ago, what I would've said would be different than six months ago, etc.—economic conditions, assistance program offerings, and the regulatory environment continue to change quickly. I think we can all agree that the overall economic conditions are not looking very positive. We have increasing interest rates, inflation, the threat of recession. Last month, the national average for bankruptcy filings was up 35%. ese indicators typically mean an increase in defaults. Currently, however, default rates do remain low and steady. As a result, I would expect referral volumes to stay consistent throughout the rest of the year, barring any kind of unforeseen event. Meaning that I would not expect any material increase or decrease for the rest of 2022. Heading into 2023, volumes will largely depend on how these economic conditions unfold. We will continue to closely monitor the impacts to our volume to ensure we are prepared and that our attorneys are likewise apprised. What have been your most important takeaways from the conference so far? It's been so valuable to attend in person, to hear what's going on in the industry from the attorney perspective and from other servicers. It's invaluable information that can be missed during more formalized online events. I learned a great deal about recent developments regarding the HAF program. Since HAF impacts foreclosure, the experiences shared will help us improve our own processes. I also found the discussion on New York law to be more cohesive in this setting. Again, the casual discussion lent itself to a greater understanding of the loan-level considerations required on NY loans. Exposure Voices of The 2022 Legal League 100 "Now that the pandemic is waning, we are left with a smaller population of borrowers who don't engage. Many of these may have already moved on from the property. This group represents your more typical default population." —Amy Neumann, FVP, Director of Late- Stage Delinquency, Default Servicing Operations, Flagstar Bank @DSNEWSDAILY DS NEWS @DSNEWSDAILY FOLLOW. LIKE. RETWEET. REPEAT. Engage with DS News on social media to put the latest default servicing news, content, and strategies at your fingertips.