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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 48 January 2024 E X P O S U R E G rowing up, it seemed like every neighborhood had that one "creepy" house. Maybe it was abandoned, maybe it was home to a quiet introvert who occa- sionally peeks out through the curtains. Regardless, these are places that collect mythology like fishing nets collect ocean- borne garbage, gathering stories and rumors that are pretty much always more interesting than reality. But out here in actual reality—those homes are probably just in need of a good property preserva- tion vendor. The property preservation sector serves a crucial function within the mar- ket: helping maintain vacant properties, ensuring the lawns are cut, the windows and doors are secure, and no one is breaking in to squat, strip out copper, or worse. They help prevent urban blight, maintain neighborhood property values, and eventually, help ensure those homes are in good shape when they return to the market. But the difficulties facing the prop pres sector have rarely been more daunt- ing, ranging from struggles to maintain a sufficient workforce, to the headwinds of inflationary costs, to the simple fact that much of the diminished REO stock is more spread out and requiring more "windshield time" just to get people out to them in the first place. All these issues and more were up for discussion at November's National Prop- erty Preservation Conference (NPPC) in Washington, D.C. Hosted by Safeguard Properties since 2004, the NPPC was the brainchild of Safeguard's late founder, Robert Klein, who created the event to fill a perceived gap for an industry event that was solely focused on trends and challenges within the property preser- vation space, as opposed to just being included as a single panel or two within a more generalized event such as the Five Star Conference. As the official NPPC homepage puts it, Klein's vision was to "bring together all facets of the mortgage field services industry to discuss pressing issues and develop solutions." This year's NPPC lineup honored that legacy well, bringing together a top-tier lineup of industry speakers from prop pres, mortgage servicing, govern- ment agencies, and the GSEs. They all gathered for three beautiful November days at the InterContinental Washington D.C. - The Wharf, filing into a sun-filled ballroom overlooking the Potomac for a packed lineup of panels and speakers. Following a welcome reception on Monday night, the curriculum kicked off early Tuesday with a fireside chat featur- ing insights from Sandra L. Thompson, Director, Federal Housing Finance Agen- cy (FHFA), moderated by Joe Iafigliola, CFO of Safeguard Properties. Director Thompson discussed her priorities and perspectives in leading FHFA and where she is focusing the Agency in 2024. The event then transitioned to one of its annual staples: the "Leadership Insights: Navigating the Industry Land- scape" panel moderated by Ed Delgado; AMP, Managing Director, Mortgage Policy Advisors; and Chairman Emeri- tus of Five Star Global (MortgagePoint's parent company). As he does every year at NPPC, Delgado assembled a cross-sec- tion of industry experts that not even a brief fire alarm could derail. This year's panel included Alan Jaffa, CEO, Safe- guard Properties; Marcel Bryar, Founder and Managing Director, Mortgage Policy Advisors, LLC; Timika Scott, SVP, US Bank; Dror Oppenheimer, CFO, Gate House Strategies, LLC; John Thibaudeau, VP, Single-Family Real Estate Asset Management, Fannie Mae; and Eric Will, Senior Director, REO/Single-Family Port- folio & Servicing Division, Freddie Mac. Delgado led the panel through topics ranging from federal efforts to address housing affordability and supply shortages to discussions of inflation, asset disposi- tion timelines, how tech advances such as AI are impacting the mortgage industry, homeowners' ongoing exits from COVID- 19-era forbearance plans, the state of REO, whether the Fed will manage its "soft land- ing," and updates on property preservation allowable fees (check out November 2023's MortgagePoint cover story for more on all of this, including details on HUD's allowable fee changes that were announced during the conference). NATIONAL PROPERTY PRESERVATION CONFERENCE RETURNS TO WASHINGTON, D.C. The annual National Property Preservation Conference, once again, brought together a cross-section of field services vendors, mortgage servicing professionals, and representatives of government agencies and the GSEs to "discuss pressing issues and develop solutions." . By DAV I D W H A R T O N