Cenlar Coronavirus Preparedness Update #3
Our team continues to persistently monitor COVID-19 and take actions to prepare for and limit the impact to critical business functions and our employees in order to provide the very best service to you and your borrowers.
Caring for borrowers is now more important than ever. And we’re here to help. During this crisis, we are following applicable GSE and government loan investor guidelines on borrower relief that allow forbearance for “reduction in income hardship.”
We have already taken a number of measures to communicate our support and the resources available to borrowers who are experiencing financial hardship. These include:
Borrower Email
An email to all borrowers will be distributed in waves. This email points borrowers to online information and tools, including mortgage assistance should they needit.
Call Center Scripting
A comprehensive script guides agents to convey empathy for the challenges borrowers may be facing during the pandemic. It includes a robust set of Q&A so that agents may answer questions. And for those who have experienced financial hardship and need mortgage assistance, the script explains forbearance with a detailed description of the terms. As you know, this is a very fluid situation with guidance being released every day from various regulators and agencies. Therefore, we have our Legal and Compliance teams monitoring the various directives as they take shape. They are working very closely with our Operations team to assure implementation of these directives.
New IVR Messaging
The fee for payments made through the IVR has been waived and is announced to the borrower in the introductory message.
Refreshed CenNet
We have revised the copy on the CenNet homepage and provided a link for borrowers to connect quickly to information and support specific to COVID-19.
Cenlar.com
Because we have a high volume of visitors to Cenlar.com, we have posted information about our Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery plan along with information about where borrowers may find support.
Tracking Borrower Impact
We are actively tracking all borrowers who have said they’ve been impacted by COVID-19. Our team is finalizing reports that show the activity in your portfolio. We expect to begin to deliver these reports to you within the next few days.
Other Actions to Assure Business Continuity
Over the last several weeks, our Pandemic Task Force has continued to execute on our Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery Plan (BC/DR) with these measures:
- Practicing social distancing by moving a large number of employees who are able to work from home
- Prioritizing workload to align with business functions that are essential to delivering service to clients and borrowers
- Leveraging a full set of tools – including a steady cadence of email and intranet postings, phone and video conferencing and IM – to enable ongoing communications and connectivity among our employees
- Cleaning more frequently and thoroughly using government-approved cleaning solutions
- Urging handwashing and other good hygiene habits
- Suspended business travel and movement between our buildings
Expectations for the Coming Days
We are working diligently to provide the following in the next several days:
Reporting – a report is being finalized which will provide you with a daily view of portfolio activity and impact delivered via SFTP. We anticipate delivery within the next few days.
Regulatory and GSE Updates – a daily file delivered via CenAccess that provides a comprehensive view of the most recent guidelines and directives related to the pandemic.
Update from Cenlar – we will host a live update describing Cenlar’s pandemic plans and activity, operational impacts, GSE and regulatory guidance, and default related considerations.