DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/1529211
MortgagePoint ยป Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 32 November 2024 C O V E R S T O R Y hurdle for servicers. So will the agency's increasing attention on mortgage servic- ing operations in general. Both develop- ments will continue to drive demand for new technologies and partnerships that can help servicers adapt their operations to meet higher standards of borrower engagement and transparency. Q: How are you and your or- ganization working to meet those challenges? How has your strategy evolved over the past year? Over the past year, we've honed our approach to subservicing by focusing on integrating advanced technological tools that help servicers manage their loan portfolios more effectively while improv- ing the borrower experience. A prime example of our strategic evolution is our recent launch of Portfolio Guardian SM , a predictive model designed to identify when a borrower is likely to refinance. As mortgage rates are expected to drop below 6% by the end of 2025, tools like Portfolio Guardian will become increasingly essen- tial. By accurately predicting refinancing behaviors, our clients will be able to proac- tively engage with homeowners looking to lower their mortgage payments, which can improve borrower retention and support stable portfolio growth. Additionally, our ongoing enhance- ments to our proprietary technology suite, including ASSET360 and Libretto, have been central to our strategy. Libretto scours our loan portfolio daily to identify and rectify over 1,200 potential exceptions daily and then routes exception reports to operations, administration, and onboarding teams for resolution. We recently upgraded Li- bretto, our regtech solution that uses AI, optical character recognition (OCR), and workflow automation tools to improve the speed, accuracy, and compliance of the loan data-boarding process. Libretto now integrates new business rules with automated workflows to board loans faster with fewer exceptions and address those exceptions to minimize risks on the portfolio. Both technologies not only improve the precision of our servicing operations but also align with our goal to deliver top-tier borrower experiences and support our clients through dynam- ic market conditions. John Vella Chief Revenue Officer, Selene Finance Q: How do you envision the mortgage servicing indus- try evolving in 2025? What key trends do you anticipate will shape the landscape? Based on industry evolutions, we will continue to focus on client- and bor- rower-centric initiatives, which include ease of engagement, the ability to drive decisions sooner, and self-service capa- bilities that will allow our clients and borrowers to navigate more effectively. More emphasis will be placed on ef- ficiency enhancements gained through automation and artificial intelligence to lower the cost of service, loans per FTE, and improve margins. The industry will see more refinance opportunities that will require recapture capabilities built on sophisticated data mining and analytics to stave runoff. With the [presidential] election, there will be changes in the regulatory environment that will mandate policy, process, and oversight challenges. Compliance and legal resources will be needed to focus on training, policy en- hancements, and change management. Q: How are you and your or- ganization working to meet those challenges? How has your strategy evolved over the past year? We continue to invest in people, with the expansion of teams across our key op- eration functions, as well as our technol- ogy platform, with a laser focus on tools and applications that prioritize the client and borrower experience and journey. Our evolution has centered around perfecting the core servicing and relationship functions that are critical to providing superior performance. This process requires discipline centered around prioritizing and executing major initiatives that will impact our clients, borrowers, and investors. Q: How are you preparing for potential economic down- turns or fluctuations within the housing market? What strategies are you implementing to mitigate risk? We monitor the housing market and trends on an ongoing basis to allow us to react and adjust very quickly. Working with our clients and investors, we devel- op loss mitigation and retention strate- gies to adjust and advance in fluctuating markets. Critical to mitigating risk is our attention to detail on employee training and our compliance infrastructure. We continue to monitor borrower and loan behaviors that would signal patterns or potential issues so we can address downturns aggressively and early on as they occur. EXECUTIVE EXPERT