Next Steps for Your Portfolio Impacted by COVID-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has tested all of us – our people, our systems, our processes, and our business models. No one knows how or when this crisis will be resolved. But you can rest assured we will continue to support you and your borrowers, so that every loan portfolio is handled with the highest possible regard and your borrowers are treated fairly. Our actions since the very beginning of the pandemic are evidence of that.
Since mid-March, we have managed thousands of forbearance requests. In addition, we have evaluated and then executed on more than 400 Covid-19-related federal, state, and agency laws or regulations. Our efforts have shifted as new forbearance requests have slowed and the number and pace of regulatory and investor changes have lessened. We’re now aggressively working to help borrowers determine next steps – whether extension, repayment, deferral or modification – after their initial forbearance period.
A Summary of Our Key Actions
We executed on many critical fulfillment efforts to support your borrowers over the past several months. These efforts centered on three major areas: Call Center Support, Technology Support/Evolution, and Resolution Processing.
Call Center Support
- Inbound and Outbound Performance Improvement – Covid-19 placed exceptional demand on our call centers. We responded by adding more call center agents, including both company hires and third-party support. We also increased our reliance on new technologies (see below). Both steps led to significant CI (Customer Interaction) and DCC (Default Call Center) performance improvements over th epast 120 days. While our performance continues to improve and trend back to normal levels, we remain committed to assuring positive experiences for your borrowers.
- Outbound Contact Strategy– We have continued to build our operational capacity over the past few months and are now executing on more aggressive borrower outreach (outbound calling, email, letters, text messages) in the final month of forbearance. Our goal is to understand your borrowers’ financial situations and provide options best suited to their needs.
Technology Support/Evolution
- Customer Self-Service Support – Within the first few weeks of the pandemic, we quickly and effectively rolled out online solutions that allowed borrowers to request support. This was an early goal as we know borrowers increasingly prefer digital options. We also added enhanced education materials about their options and next steps.
- New Website – An updated borrower-facing website for non-branded loans (preview address: www2.loanadministration.com) is live. It has a brand new look and feel and a more intuitive, customer-friendly experience. All non-branded loans will be moved to the new website by mid-August, with branded loans transitioned on a client-by-client basis during the coming months.
- Chatbot – Our new “Virtual Assistant” chatbot allows borrowers to self-serve by getting answers to frequently asked questions about mortgage assistance options under the CARES Act. The chatbot is connected to our IVR. When borrowers call in with mortgage assistance questions, they’re given the option of connecting to the chatbot through a link sent via text message.
- Dashboard – We upgraded our dashboard by:
- Creating and changing processes and coding to adapt to regulator and investor guidance.
- Modifying the dashboard and accompanying data detail file to better track activity throughout the forbearance process.
- Making population and other updates.
- Focusing on future enhancements. In early August, the dashboard will show borrower engagement activity, including borrowers ready to resolve outstanding forbearances.
Resolution Processing Actions
- Agency Deferments – The deferral program rolled out by the GSEs has created significant challenges for the industry. This is especially true for servicing system providers and servicers due to the complexity and reporting requirements associated with this work process.
We have worked closely and diligently with our servicing system provider to build the technology required to support this new product structure. While not yet fully built, we have developed exception processing to facilitate customer requests and manage the process. We will complete implementation by the 4th quarter. Borrowers will not notice this change.
We began sending customer packages on July 20 and expect to be processing on a daily basis by August 7.
- FHA/VA/USDA – Since June, following FHA, VA, and USDA guidance, we have been fielding new requests from borrowers ready to resolvebtheir financial hardship and end their forbearance period.
- Processing of custom-defined non-CARES loans – If you have requested custom processing for certain loans in your portfolio, we are following your guidance as it pertains to resolution options available to borrowers as they exit their forbearance due to hardship resolution.
- Escrow Analysis on Loan Deferrals – We will reanalyze escrow accounts concurrently with completion of mortgage deferrals. Escrow shortages will be spread over a 24-month period to limit payment shock. If a regularly scheduled escrow analysis is scheduled to occur within 90 days of the deferral, we will postpone it to avoid conducting two analyses within a 90-day period.
Deferment Resolution Fee
We have thoroughly evaluated the process and work required to complete and comply with the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac balloon deferment resolution options for CARES-eligible borrowers. The new charge will be $375.00 for this work process. This fee is lower than our standard contractual disposition fees based on the unique and streamlined nature of the program. The fee is also lower than the amount to be paid by the GSEs for this process.
All other contractual fees for decision-making or next steps to resolve loans under all other currently identified investor programs will remain unchanged. Please note that for some non-agency products, fees associated with document execution, including mobile notary or title search, may be required.
We believe the most important currency in banking is trust. You and your borrowers trust us to do the right thing, to be transparent and to stand in your shoes whenever an issue arises.
As the nation’s largest subservicer and a federally chartered wholesale bank, we appreciate the opportunity to serve you and your borrowers.
Your satisfaction is the ultimate barometer of our success.