As 2010 gears up to be the ‘year of the short sale,’ Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services (LPS) said Tuesday its asset management division will expand its offering of mortgage industry services to include a new short sale platform. With the government-led Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program (HAFA) set to launch in April, many real estate executives are pointing to short sales and deed-in-lieu transactions as the next major trend in distressed real estate. For their part, service providers have been quick to adapt to the emerging trend, with the number of short-sale solutions available on the market proliferating at breakneck pace as of late. HousingWire covered some of the platforms in a recent story. “Servicers must have an exceptionally efficient process in place for accuracy, timeliness and high-performance results [in short sales],” said Chad Neel, president of Jacksonville-based LPS Asset Management Solutions. “With our extensive industry and short-sale experience and resources, we are ideally poised to help servicers.” LPS’ servicing platform, MSP, is used to process more than 50% of all US residential mortgages, with balances exceeding $4.5trn. The market for short sales is already heating up ahead of HAFA, with Los Angeles-based Equator already announcing 125,000 short sales processed on its automated platform in just four months. In a statement, LPS said its new service is a one-stop shop of sorts, where the company will review titles and resolve junior liens where necessary. The service will also evaluate the equity position for each transaction, and provide a relevant price for the properties. In some cases, property preservation services can be offered. LPS will also manage the closing as part of its short sale platform. Write to Jacob Gaffney.