The anonymous referral service that helps lenders and counseling agencies connect struggling home owners with qualified sources of assistance is ending the year with a bang.
For MortgageKeeper, which maintains a database of some 6,000 local, fully vetted government and non-profit relief organizations, 2011 will go down as its busiest year ever. And on top of that, the Downers Grove, Ill.-company has added two more clients.
Counselors and mortgage servicers who subscribe to the firm's database are able to provide distressed owners with a list of exhaustively researched, best-in-class agencies. Often the agencies are located just a few miles from the owner's home. "Offering reliable, local assistance improves their customer's financial footing, helping them get their mortgage payments back on track," says Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey, president of MortgageKeeper Referral Services.
By year-end, distressed owners will have received more than 668,000 referrals from MortgageKeeper, an average of 2,300 a day. The single most requested category of assistance is housing and credit counseling, followed by help with paying utilities, finding employment, food assistance and rental housing.
The company also recently signed American Home Mortgage Servicing Inc. to a long-term contract starting in January. AHMSI customers will type in their zip code, and choose from 20 different service categories. Within seconds, they will receive a list of services that can help them with their personal and financial needs. With their more pressing needs under control, owners are more likely to make their mortgage payments.
Based in Coppell, Texas, AHMSI is the 13th largest mortgage servicer in the country, managing nearly $71 billion in loans for some 376,000 home owners.
The other new MortgageKeeper client is InCharge Debt Solutions, a non-profit specializing in personal finance education, housing counseling, bankruptcy services and credit counseling. Founded in 1997, InCharge interacted with over 1.2 million consumers in 2010 alone.
The two new clients join Bank of America, Ocwen Loan Servicing and the Homeownership Preservation Foundation's HOPE hotline as major users of the MortgageKeeper referral service.
