Celink, a reverse mortgage subservicer based in Lansing, Mich., will use Industry Consulting Group Inc., as its tax service provider. The payment of the borrower's taxes and insurance is one of the issues affecting reverse mortgage services; a default in this area could lead to foreclosure.
ICG specializes in providing tax tracking services to reverse mortgage lenders. The firm has an end-to-end solution for handling tax payment delinquencies from borrowers.
Ryan LaRose, Celink’s chief operating officer, said Dallas-based ICG was selected, “because of their focus within the reverse mortgage industry. Their processes and procedures are specifically designed to proactively assist and educate senior borrowers about their responsibilities regarding the payment of their property taxes.
“In addition, this partnership allows us to dedicate more internal resources to working with borrowers who have previously defaulted on their tax payments, in an effort to help them return to a current status.”
ICG provides a complete suite of real estate tax service products to its clients, explained Dennis Gassoway, national sales executive. This includes checking county records for property tax delinquencies.
It will assist Celink in making certain its reverse mortgage borrowers remain up to date, including sending out letters to homeowners.
ICG is a "custom tax service," Gassoway said, whose services go far beyond those provided by traditional tax service providers like First American and Fidelity.
For example, as part of its services as a reverse mortgage specialist, it will send out postcards to borrowers before their tax cycle comes up.
Reverse mortgage tax service does bring up a different aspect of the business because of the nature of the product. IGC, he said, is able because of its size to provide "an out of the box solution" to its clients based what their needs are.
