Hope LoanPort, a Web-based housing counselor tool used by servicers and borrowers to submit and receive completed modification applications, is working on a portal for servicers to use when processing short sales. Hope LoanPort CEO Larry Gilmore said during the Mortgage Bankers Association servicing conference Thursday in Grapevine, Texas, that as it continues to improve its modification platform, it already has the infrastructure in place for short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. Both the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development use Hope LoanPort for initiatives such as the Home Affordable Modification Program, and HUD’s soon-to-launch Emergency Homeowner Loan Program, which will provide up to $1 billion in mortgage assistance to the unemployed starting this spring. As the Treasury has recently retooled its short-sale initiative, the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, or HAFA, Hope LoanPort may soon lend a hand there as well. Gilmore said HopeLoanPort could soon be reaching out to technology vendors for short sale support. He said there is no specific timeline for when the software would be complete, but with short sales ramping up soon, it could be in demand. “This is something we’ve been working on for some time now,” Gilmore told HousingWire. “It would be very similar to the modification tool, it would be geared more toward the servicers’ liquidation department.” While speaking on a panel about the future of paperless servicing, Gilmore addressed the sheer amount of work his company and clients are doing to implement such a broad spectrum of programs and tools. “Drastic times call for drastic measures,” Gilmore said. Write to Jon Prior. Follow him on Twitter: @JonAPrior