LPS Rolls Out Mass Loan Mod Solution

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (LPS) said Wednesday morning that it’s the latest mortgage industry services provider to roll out an end-to-end loan modification platform. Called RediMod, the new platform focuses on enabling mass loan modifications by automating loan eligibility and best-fit determinations for modification programs, and then combining loan-level and portfolio analytics with customizable customer contact strategies tailored to meet a servicer’s specific requirements. “Servicers are under increasing pressure to limit the number of defaulted loans and assist borrowers in their efforts to stay in their homes,” said Dan Scheuble, co-chief operating officer of LPS and president of the company’s mortgage processing services division. “RediMod provides a flexible and immediate solution that extends a servicer’s current technology rather than replaces it, allowing for a very quick implementation.” While RediMod is intended to provide a complete solution to servicers, LPS said its new platform also has been developed in a modular fashion — allowing those with partial workout processes already in place to add capabilities as needed. The platform also is offered in conjunction with the company’s strategic consulting services. The company, while a well-known and strong player in the mortgage services space, isn’t the first or the only large entrant into the loan modification space recently. But LPS’ entrance now, in many ways, signals the importance being placed by servicers on finding ways to use technology to streamline loan modifications where possible; it’s also an indicator of just how overwhelmed many servicers are by an influx of troubled loans they’re having trouble managing. LPS competitor the First American Corp. (FAF), for example, also rolled out what it billed at the time as an “end-to-end, component-based” loss mitigation outsourcing solution in early August. Other industry service providers have waded into loss mitigation waters as of late, as well — including even formerly REO-centric tech firms — making loss mitigation outsourcing and technology perhaps the hottest area in the entire mortgage industry right now. The idea of mass, and even proactive, loan modifications by servicers has been pushed with force by regulators in recent weeks, with Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. chairwoman Sheila Bair highlighting their use at IndyMac Federal Bank in an effort to lobby for further government intervention in managing troubled mortgage modifications. On Nov. 11, Federal Housing Finance Agency director James Lockhart unveiled a streamlined loan modification plan that sets core criteria for mass loan modification on loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae [(FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). In other words, there’s a pretty big market right now for programs that can help servicers implement streamlined loan modifications. Write to Paul Jackson at [email protected]. Disclosure: The author was long LPS when this story was published, and held no other relevant investment positions. Indirect holdings may also exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.