Partnership Brings REO Asset Management to CUs and Community Banks

While credit unions and community banks have traditionally held smaller inventories of REO properties than major national banks, the complexities associated with the day-to-day management and servicing of those assets can be just as challenging.

As a result of this situation, Carrington Property Services and LendingXpress have joined forces to help community banks and credit unions manage bank-owned assets within their portfolios.

Through the strategic relationship, LendingXpress, an SWBC company based in San Antonio, will market Carrington’s integrated, end-to-end REO asset management solution to its customer base, providing smaller-scale financial institutions with a suite of services designed to reduce costs and maximize returns.

The two companies plan to start offering this REO asset management service for credit unions and community banks in the second quarter of this year.

“This arrangement directly supports the value proposition LendingXpress was based on—giving lenders an efficient, seamless method for accessing products and services designed to increase efficiency, reduce risk and offer a competitive advantage,” said Ted Robinson, president of LendingXpress, in a written release.

Carrington’s solution begins with an assessment of an REO property, which helps the lender determine whether to rent or sell the asset as well as if repairs are needed for the property. After this is figured out—in compliance with federal, state and local laws—the Santa Ana, Calif.-based company handles occupant resolution, property repairs and either rental management or the marketing and disposition of the REO properties on behalf of the financial institutions.

All of these steps, Carrington noted in the release, are completed through a central point of contact on a single platform, executed on a local level by the company’s national network of real estate and property management agents.

Because of the partnership, LendingXpress will integrate this full range of capabilities within its existing offering of third-party products and services dedicated to meeting the needs of financial institutions.

Steve Ozonian, chief real estate officer for Carrington Holding Company, said bringing together a financial services company that provides insurance, mortgage and investment services to businesses throughout the country, with a national asset management company who focuses on bank-owned properties is a win-win situation for all types of customers.

“Blending Carrington’s knowledge of end-to-end REO workflow with SWBC’s understanding of what these financial institutions need will enable us to produce a solution specifically designed to maximize returns and minimize costs in a highly regulated environment for our business partners,” Ozonian added. “This strategic relationship with LendingXpress and SWBC will enable Carrington to expand its reach and extend its full continuum of services to the credit union and community banking market.”

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