Mortgage servicers that provide troubled borrowers with a 'single point of contact' to help them through loan modifications and workouts avoid costly delays and customer confusion, according to a Fannie Mae executive.
"We have seen the single point of contact model work," said Fannie senior vice president of capital markets Andrew BonSalle.
The GSE, along with Freddie Mac and their regulator, is reviewing how to change the compensation structure for servicers.
Fannie, in particular, wants more servicers to use a SPOC model, and this past week told the industry as much at a servicing forum sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The SPOC is considered a "best practice" among consumer groups, regulators and certain servicers. It's anticipated that any settlement between the major servicers and the state attorneys general will likely mandate its implementation.
Freddie Mac has been encouraging its servicers to adopt this best practice for years, according to spokesman Brad German. "We have been encouraging our largest servicers to establish a dedicated team for Freddie borrowers and provide them a single point of contact," he said.
But Fannie is taking it a step further, according to Terence Edwards, who is in charge of credit portfolio management for the GSE. In testimony before a Senate panel in December, the Fannie executive noted some servicers have voluntarily deployed a single point of contact model. "We're in the process of changing our policy to require all servicers to use this approach," Edwards said.
