Fannie Mae Servicing Chief: Job Losses Weigh on Loan Mods

Many residential servicers are desperately trying to gauge the impact of job losses on loan modifications, according to Javid Jaberi, vice president of national servicing for Fannie Mae. Speaking at SourceMedia's Best Practices in Loss Mitigation Conference in Dallas, Mr. Jaberi said loan modification professionals need to stay connected with borrowers who report financial difficulties or admit they are struggling to make payments. "Find out their financial issues and challenges," he told a room full of loss mitigation and servicing professionals. "And how do we remedy that with a short-term or longer-term solution? There is a program for them." As the account gets more delinquent, the borrower often stops calling the servicer, he said. The Fannie Mae executive said it's important for servicers to properly train staff but admitted that with all the new government programs challenges arise. New employees fresh from college but with no practical experience in mortgages can take a long time to train, he said. He noted that from peak to trough housing values have been decimated in several once-hot markets. Five states have seen a decline of more than 30% in values: California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida and Michigan.