Fewer delinquent loans have slowed the flow of REO, so we're seeing more servicers looking to bring management functions in-house in order to better control costs.

It is becoming increasingly evident that mortgage servicing organizations—from servicers to default servicing law firms and their vendors—will not be viable if they don't evolve.

How do you distinguish between a BPO that only looks like a high-performance vehicle and one that actually performs that well?

Although mortgage servicers hire field service companies to preserve these properties, the property will deteriorate without a tenant or occupant no matter how much maintenance work is completed.

Homeowners who buy into certain myths can actually impair their ability to save, or at least remain longer, in their homes.

In a time where integrity of data is more important than ever, mobile technology allows for greater control and monitoring to ensure that time value is increased and costs decreased.

The REO market has seen its share of scams throughout the recent years, including a current one affecting renters looking for a great deal on the internet.

REO has long been the red-headed stepchild of the housing industry, the one nobody pays any attention to and just wants it taken care of quickly and swiftly.

Investors will spend what they have to in order to keep REO in marketable condition, but they often work very hard to find asset managers who can sell the property in as close to the condition they find it in as they can. That’s just good business.

Field service companies have put more emphasis on pre-sale mitigation, auditing the work they complete, and concentrating on other ways to protect the value of REO properties in pre-sale in the future.

Home sales in some of our nation’s hardest hit markets are showing signs of recovery. This is great news for the industry, especially if estimates are true and we still have years’ worth of housing industry that has yet to reach the market.

Vacant property registration ordinances were created to help protect vacant and abandoned homes from neglect and prevent them from becoming nuisances. Local municipalities use them to collect current and accurate contact information about the lien holder of record, allowing officials to issue prompt notification when a code violation occurs.

With online listing, vacancies, a flush of foreclosed properties and a sour economy, REO assets have become a hotbed for criminal activity. Everything from prostitution to copper stripping has been reported in areas with high foreclosure rates. Once a property becomes vacant, it can easily fall prey to criminal infiltration and become a real liability for an entire community. …

In today's challenged housing market, creating and preserving value in REO portfolios is critical. There are three ways servicers can protect their bottom lines.

Insurance companies have become more sophisticated in the face of the housing crisis, hiring teams specifically to investigate and adjust hazard claims filed by the mortgage servicers. This has resulted in an increase in hazard denials.