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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 15 SPONSORED CONTENT COLLATERAL LOSS MITIGATION: DISRUPTING THE POST-DEFAULT SERVICING MARKETPLACE Two years ago, Denis Brosnan, President & CEO of DIMONT announced in DS News the "rebirth" of the company. Now, we've caught up with Brosnan to see what's new, now, and next with this provider of technology solutions aimed at specialty insurance claims processing and collateral loss mitigation management. SINCE YOU'RE COMPANY'S "REBIRTH," WHAT HAS CHANGED FOR DIMONT? A ton. Our company, which created the market for hazard claims adjustment services over 20 years ago, had been through a rough period as the mortgage crisis abated. While our business was operationally sound and blessed with loyal clients, ownership had changed hands a couple of times and demand for default-related services was in free fall. In 2015, the only thing that was for certain was that we were going to have to change! We began the rebirthing process of DIMONT by reaffirming that we are a services business dedicated to helping investors and servicers reduce their losses on collateral. is commitment guided our strategic development–we began by building a flood insurance valuation business, which was immediately successful. Next, we added an investor claims service and then finally, late last year, we entered the auto finance market by helping auto lenders with insurance claims on repossessed vehicles. So, we've been pretty busy! COLLATERAL LOSS MITIGATION SOUNDS CATCHY AND INNOVATIVE, BUT WHAT'S IN IT FOR THE SERVICER? e contraction in the default market has caused other service providers to exit the business, leaving core problems unsolved. Rather than flee ourselves, we took a deep breath and recognized that our core service offering—hazard claims adjusting—is really a component of a broader process of collateral liquidation after default resolution efforts have failed. After we had mapped out all of these activities, we had a bit of a "V8" moment: our role in this ecosystem—hazard claims adjusting–occurs at the very beginning of the mortgage servicer's conveyance efforts, so we could easily collect data that was relevant to all of those activities. Housing this data in our proprietary claims management system would also enable us to perform a variety of value-added services throughout the ecosystem, such as quality control and loss analysis. At that moment, the vision that we titled Collateral Loss Mitigation (CLM for short) was born. By bundling our hazard claims service with an investor claims service, we can dramatically reduce the time frames and curtailment risks associated with the conveyance process for our clients, while also delivering more predictable and cost-effective outcomes. HOW HAS THIS NEW OFFERING BEEN RECEIVED? When we first started thinking about CLM, we asked our clients for their perceptions of the conveyance process, and it was like opening Pandora's box. Everyone seemed to have an opinion, and these opinions were almost universally negative. Common complaints included the relative scarcity of outsourcing options, the "product" focus of the existing vendors, frustration over the intensely manual systems and paper-based processes, and innumerable coordination complexities which led to breakdowns and failures in the conveyance efforts. It seemed there was no shortage of opportunities to apply expertise, technology, and a solution orientation to make things better for servicers. is client-centric message resonated in a big way, and we boarded our first CLM clients shortly after rolling out the concept in early 2016. Over the course of this year, we've seen the CLM concept grow in acceptance and adoption by the marketplace, to the point where it is the main driver of our growth in the mortgage servicing market, often in unexpected ways. For example, we've had a client recently engage us to QC their property preservation reports to avoid missed repair opportunities, while another asked us to audit old claim files to find instances of underpayment by the investor. WHAT'S NEXT FOR DIMONT? We're thrilled by our success in building new offerings such as CLM, and we look forward to continuing to spread the word about this groundbreaking concept in the year ahead. At the end of the day, for us, it's really all about staying client-centric and focused on our core businesses, which help them reduce collateral-related losses. By staying committed, I'm confident we'll keep growing and innovating. "We began the rebirthing process of DIMONT by reaffirming that we are a services business dedicated to helping investors and servicers reduce their losses on collateral." –Denis Bronson, President and CEO, DIMONT

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