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43 September 2025 F E A T U R E S T O R Y September 2025 » themortgagepoint.com Q: Mortgage servicing requires striking a balance between risk, mitigation, profitability, and borrower support. How does Freedom Mortgage manage these priorities, especially in times of financial stress? Middleman: Fortunately, we have a certain level of scale and sophistication in the capital markets that provide us with the liquidity to manage the issues that come along with a stressed financial en- vironment. If we needed to have access to liquidity, we have that access. And we do raise capital through the capital markets and in the public markets. It's not a very stressful situation for us. But if we were smaller and at a different point in time, it could have been a very stressful environ- ment during a period of financial stress in the marketplace. Fortunately, we've done a lot of things to stay in the middle of the fairway and deal with consistent products and high-credit-quality customers. I'm not expecting that to be a major issue as we go forward, at least not here at Freedom Mortgage. Q: Looking back at past disruptions such as economic downturns, interest rate spikes, or even a pandemic, what lessons has Freedom Mortgage learned about maintaining servicing reliability? Middleman: The key to surviving economic downturns is the opportunities that come out of them. Generally, economic downturns are accompanied by a drop in interest rates, and that creates a tremendous opportunity for new originations, and it creates a tremendous amount of profitabil- ity. Servicing becomes an augmentation to that rather than the central figure in the show. In a higher-interest-rate environment, servicing is the featured act. But when we get into a lower interest rate environment, origination becomes the featured act. That's the difference in being a well-balanced or- ganization that is extremely efficient at both origination and servicing, as profitability and revenue production are of critical im- portance in running a mortgage business. I think we do a good job on both sides. Q: In your view, what does exceptional mortgage servicing look like from the homeowner's perspective, and how does Freedom Mortgage work to deliver that? Middleman: If the servicer didn't col- lect, that would be the most exceptional situation for the homeowner. Unfortu- nately, we're pretty good at collecting what's due. I think the homeowner's view of the quality of servicing goes to the technology of the system and having the functional support that they need. Most people make their payments— well over 90%. Having the ease of mak- ing those payments and solving issues when they arise is the key to servicing. Any other issues really come from a small minority of consumers. The consumer experience is driven by the majority of consumers who need sup- port to make their monthly payments on a regular basis. Q: Looking ahead, what innovations or industry shifts do you foresee shaping the next decade of mortgage servicing? Middleman: Data flow is improving. With the advent of AI, we've seen the movement of data, and access to infor- mation speed up, as well as the quality of sharing that information, getting the right answers across a wide variety of databases. The resolution of issues and questions is going to speed up. That's probably the biggest change: our ability to identify and help the consumer and manage their expectations. Having a loan that's right for them, and opportu- nities that are right for them, will also speed up and improve the process. The biggest thing is going to be managing the access and the use of the data, which will be more readily available to us than at any point previously in the history of mankind. Q: What other insights or information would you like to share with those in the industry? Middleman: Be careful what you wish for. I know a lot of people in the indus- try think that it would be great to have lower interest rates, and lower interest rates are generally better for origination. But lower interest rates means that there has been some financial turmoil. There have been some economic events that have driven interest rates lower, whether it's higher unemployment, deflation, or some combination of the two. I think we should be wary of asset corrections, and that may very well come on the heels of a drop in interest rates. You know, it might be fun having a couple of drinks, but the headache the next day may not have been worth the fun of the night before. I think we might be facing a situation where that would be the case. So, be careful what you wish for. "You know, it might be fun having a couple of drinks, but the headache the next day may not have been worth the fun of the night before. I think we might be facing a situation where that would be the case."