NCCI at Forefront of Two New Government Programs to Assist Troubled Borrowers

Lake Forest, Calif. — Two government programs that extend new options to homeowners who are unable to make their existing mortgage payments will lean even more heavily upon field service firms like National Creditors Connection Inc. (NCCI), whose role now will expand from basic borrower contact to a targeted evaluation of a consumer’s financial condition.

“There is a new emphasis on extending our reach,” says Jay Loeb, vice-president and a principal owner of NCCI. “We’ll be helping to assess, on behalf of our servicer-clients, whether delinquent borrowers are good candidates for these new programs.” This greater reliance, Loeb noted, comes on the heels of NCCI’s success for a large bank client, “who saw their borrower outreach success rise by 20 percent” – a metric that ultimately helps servicers meet their home retention goals, he noted.

One of the new government programs, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative (HAFA), which took effect April 5, provides new incentives for servicers, investors and distressed homeowners to participate in an expedited short sales program.

A second initiative, spelled out in a Lender Letter (LL-2010-04) from Fannie Mae last month, will provide alternative modification options to borrowers under HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program), which has fallen short of its original 4 million borrower assistance target identified at the outset of the program.

Under the expansion, borrowers previously accepted into a HAMP trial period plan, but subsequently not offered a HAMP permanent modification because of eligibility restrictions, may be reconsidered. (One example applies to borrowers in bankruptcy.)

This “alt-mod” program will rely more on field service firms to contact those borrowers not responding after an offer has been sent. Servicers will be required to conduct follow-ups according to a strictly defined government timetable, including a minimum of three additional contact attempts by phone or door knocking between the 15th and 30th day after the offer is mailed.

Acting as component servicers
“The move to a deeper, evaluation level in our interactions with delinquent borrowers will require acquisition and cross-comparisons of detailed data including title reports and broker price opinions (BPOs),” said Joe Weber, national sales director, NCCI. “In a real sense we’ll be acting as component servicers.”

From the initial door-knock through document retrieval, signature services and extracting financials, NCCI will play a crucial part in every step of the process, Weber said, adding: “The good news for our clients is that they can pick and choose what services they want.”

Loeb said: “New government efforts to move document collection to the front of the mod process are an important improvement, but by previously accepting only verbal financial data from the borrower – to qualify entry into a trial period – we were only delaying the pain and continuing to threaten final modification success.”

Although the process still has it pain points, Loeb said “the right mix of diligent work efforts, technology and best practices will invariably result in the gain we all wish to obtain.”

About NCCI
NCCI provides field contact, loss mitigation and onsite inspection services to financial institutions nationwide. Clients receive a seamless management service, utilizing a variety of tools and resources designed to increase customer contact, motivating them toward account resolution. In addition to a national network of trained field representatives, clients have access to an extensive variety of updates, status reports and secure assigning via a secure web portal. For more information, call (800) 300-0743 or visit www.nationalcreditors.com.