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MortgagePoint ยป Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 46 January 2024 F E A T U R E ward, servicers will need to be vigilant about these changing requirements and demonstrate the steps they are taking to help call center associates develop better "soft skills." Being able to demonstrate and ensure this vigilance should involve ongoing training and ongoing testing, in the form of call reviews, both by indi- vidual leaders (including managers and supervisors and potentially high-per- forming call agents leveraged to assist co-workers), as well as in group settings, by utilizing actual call scenarios played out during training on a regular or as- need basis. Based on my experience, the training will not be effective without the testing, because servicing leaders will inevitably be defensive when it comes to their staff 's performance. So, it is imperative to have a third-party conduct call reviews so that the call center leaders have clear and concise feedback they can incorporate into better and contin- ued training. Additionally, identifying thematic scenarios and documenting the varied responses and outcomes to im- prove existing call scripts to assist agents should be a priority. Are Call Centers Potential Minefields? S ervicers must ensure that they adhere to Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Consumer Financial Protec- tion Bureau (CFPB), and Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) regulations along with any state-specific rules, laws, or requirements in order to avoid Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) viola- tions and/or official complaints to any of the regulating bodies. While technology, like automated dialers, has been invalu- able in ensuring compliance to certain rules, the dramatic shift in call volumes and the numerous rule changes that call centers must adhere to have created unprecedented challenges to servicers over the past three years. To cope, ser- vicers have had to hire agents en masse, with many of them lacking the neces- sary experience. Inexperienced agents in an intensely regulated environment where rules are constantly changing is a potentially hazardous combination: the metaphorical equivalent of a compliance minefield. To get ahead of what is coming in future examinations, a servicers' best course of action is engaging with third-party reviewers to demonstrate to their regulators that they are taking ad- vantage of all available resources in order to protect their borrowers. To get ahead of what is coming in future examinations, a servicers' best course of action is engaging with third-party reviewers to demonstrate to their regulators that they are taking advantage of all available resources in order to protect their borrowers.