TheCOMPANY
As the mortgage industry adjusts to regulatory oversight that is more and more focused on third parties, lenders and servicers are seeking out service providers with solid financials that can offer a comprehensive set of services. First American provides an end-to-end title and servicing experience with solutions covering both performing and non-performing loans.
“Lenders want to speed up timelines involved in managing a non-performing loan, gain access to a quality product that eliminates the back-and-forth communication often seen in clearing title issues, and minimize the counterparty risk associated with using multiple service providers with potentially weaker financials and a narrower set of solutions,” said Kevin Wall, president of First American Mortgage Solutions.
First American Mortgage Solutions provides the kind of industry expertise and quality solutions lenders are looking for, including Servicing QC, valuation and collateral risk, loss mitigation, foreclosure and REO. In addition, First American delivers real estate data, property reports and recorded document images to bring clarity to servicing business decisions through its DataTree solution, which provides access to more than 5.5 billion document images.
“There is incentive for servicers to scrub portfolios for loans at risk of refinance and/or to proactively target borrowers that could benefit from a refinance. Leveraging advanced data and analytics tools, such as DataTree.com, servicers can access transaction history and title chain and lien reports to gain valuable insight,” said Eric Friedman, COO for the servicing segment of First American Mortgage Solutions.
For example, servicers can find out about subsequent home equity lines of credit and junior liens that were added, which could be refinanced into one new loan at a cheaper overall rate or payment.
As servicers try to comply with investor, insurer and CFPB guidance, there is a growing need to perform a third-party review of the processes they use for both performing and non-performing loans. Since NPL volumes have come back to pre-2008 levels, cost containment and compliance remain important trends, and many larger and mid-sized servicers are looking for material cost reductions and a streamlined workflow.
“A more formal loan-level compliance testing function traces its roots to the OCC Consent Orders related to ‘robo-signing.’ Those reviews were focused primarily on the foreclosure process, but the servicing rule-making that came out of the CFPB, and precedents like the National Servicing Settlement, injected real risk and penalties into other areas of loan servicing,” Friedman said. “What servicers want is a comprehensive servicing compliance review across all areas – from boarding through foreclosure sale – with loan scoring and reporting that allows for the identification of compliance issues that can be remedied.”
Third-party review of a servicer’s process allows servicers an opportunity to test what they’ve implemented and refine before an agency or regulatory audit. Servicing QC from First American Mortgage Solutions gives servicers a variable-cost solution that lets them take a proactive approach.
“Servicing QC is getting serious attention due to the fact that third-party oversight is now an industry requirement. We are expanding our highly experienced team of professionals to conduct loan level reviews to determine compliance tied to investor, insurer, and CFPB guidelines,” said Nick Volpe, vice president of product management.
Working with a single provider allows servicers to maximize their efficiency without sacrificing quality.
“We have seen multiple products ordered through different channels of our business but all for the same customer. This kind of inefficiency happens primarily because the servicer’s internal operations are not set up to lever a single provider,” Friedman said.
A single source allows for a more consistent process, better quality product, less expensive delivery and a single counterparty to manage all title issues related to the property.
“Mortgage servicers choose First American Mortgage Solutions because of our long experience delivering thorough and trustworthy service,” Wall said.
TheEXECUTIVES
Kevin Wall, President
Kevin Wall leads the strategic vision for First American Mortgage Solutions. Since joining the company in 2013, Kevin has been responsible for strengthening alignment with national customers and strategically positioning the brand to offer comprehensive solutions across the mortgage-lending continuum.
Eric Friedman, COO
As chief operating officer for the servicing segment of First American Mortgage Solutions, Eric Friedman oversees new product development, compliance, client relations management and technology.
Nick Volpe, VP, Product Management
Nick Volpe directs product development, product marketing, program management and strategy for loan review solutions, including quality control (origination and servicing), regulatory compliance and surveillance.