Central Database and Analytics Help Alliance Aid Borrowers

National Mortgage News (05/05/08) Vol. 32, No. 31, P. 16; Dymi, Amilda
Experts say the key to successfully helping subprime borrowers avoid foreclosure is collaboration; and Hope Now includes mortgage lenders, servicers, investors, counselors and other industry representatives. The alliance's members have created a counseling portal with the help of Computer Sciences Corp. that lets servicers share data with counselors, who can use the information to create a workout plan that abides by the servicer's loss mitigation guidelines. According to executive director Faith Schwartz, "Hope Now has a strategic three-pronged approach to helping troubled homeowners avoid foreclosure, which includes reaching out to the borrower, counseling the borrower and partnering with them to help find a realistic solution to avoid foreclosure." Bank of America's Bob Caruso says calls to the Homeownership Preservation Foundation's Hope Now hotline rose tenfold in the fourth quarter from the first quarter of last year, and 31 percent of calls were made by homeowners who were just beginning to fall behind in their payments. He notes, "Bank of America is seeing that letters sent on Hope Now letterhead achieve a better response than other loss mitigation mailings. That's an advantage of speaking to homeowners with one voice."