by SpringFour | Nov, 13, 2014 | Default
MKDesktop will Increase HUD Non-profit Counselor Capacity
DOWNERS GROVE, IL (Nov 10, 2014): MortgageKeeper Referral Services, Inc. announced today an agreement with Wells Fargo to provide HUD-approved national non-profits and their counselors with access to MKDesktop, thereby more easily connecting struggling homeowners and renters to local assistance services.
Numerous HUD approved agencies already subscribe to MKDesktop, with more than 1,000 counselors using it to make over 100,000 referrals to their clients every month. Through this agreement the number of counselors using MKDesktop is expected to double. Referrals to local assistance organizations help with food, utility, prescription, child care, and home repair costs, all of which contribute to a balanced household budget and make homeowners more likely to qualify for a loan workout.
Wells Fargo’s financial support will make the MKDesktop application available to nearly all non-profit housing counseling agencies and increase the likelihood that distressed homeowners and renters will receive direction to local non-profit and government agencies that are prepared to assist. The agreement provides counselors with access to MortgageKeeper’s proprietary database of more than 7,500 best-in-class nonprofit and government services. Counselors can type in their client’s ZIP Code, and then choose from 20 different assistance service categories.
“While Wells Fargo’s delinquency and foreclosure rates consistently trend significantly better than the industry average, this commitment to support nonprofits with MKDesktop is just another example of how they go to great lengths to help all homeowners – even when they are not their own customers,” said Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey, president of MortgageKeeper. “With the addition of MKDesktop, more counselors will have critical tools that will result in them better assisting homeowners to avoid foreclosure.”
To date HomeFree USA, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), National Council of La Raza, National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the Housing Partnership Network, and NeighborWorks America have subscribed to MKDesktop through this initiative, joining long-term users the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, Money Management International, ClearPoint, GreenPath, Springboard, Navicore (formerly Novadebt), and CCCS of San Francisco.
About MortgageKeeper Referral Services: MortgageKeeper Referral Services is the only platform dedicated to connecting consumers to best-in-class local resources. Trusted by top servicers, and housing and creditcounseling agencies, MK applications power more than 4,000 referrals a day throughout the United States. Consumers in financial distress with access to local resources have additional opportunities to cure default, benefiting the homeowner, servicer, and investor. For more information about MKDesktop and MKDirect, including an online demonstration, please visit MortgageKeeper.com.
by SpringFour | Nov, 8, 2013 | Default
This week we have part two of our interview with Larry L. Gilmore, president of the Student Loan Alliance (SLA). Larry is an expert on both the mortgage and student loan crises, and joined us last week for part one of this interview.
What is your advice to someone who can’t pay their student loans on time?
Seek immediate help.
There are a number of for profit debt management companies charging high fees to assist borrowers with workout options. While a number of these services are free, it is complicated to sort out what repayment options you qualify for, the best option for you, and completing the application. I strongly encourage they visit studentloanhelp.org, complete the online questionnaire, register, and get connected to a certified consumer credit counseling agency.
There seem to be the same players with student loans are there are with housing loans: the government, the servicers, and the borrowers. Are there strategies for each that would avert a student loan crisis?
The Government – More assertively incorporating the role of a 3rd party counseling organization to provide objective assistance. Similar to the mortgage industry foreclosure crisis, the student loan industry could benefit from a federally mandated funding mechanism to pay for counseling sessions (similar to the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program).
Servicers – aggressively seek partnerships with independent nonprofit counseling agencies that can assist in increasing borrower contact, qualify borrowers for available options, and assist in improving overall performance. Private servicers need to increase and make transparent what available workout options exist and provide a public contact list for escalation specifically for use by trusted 3rd party counselors.
Borrowers – Again, there are a number of for profit debt management companies charging high fees to assist borrowers with workout options. While a number of these services are free, it is complicated to sort out. strongly encourage they visit www.studentloanhelp.org, complete the online questionnaire, register, and get connected to a certified consumer credit counseling agency.
by SpringFour | Nov, 1, 2013 | Default
Here at the MK blog, we wanted a better understanding of the growing student loan debt issues that are making the news. And we found the man with the answers.
This week is the first of a two-part interview with Larry L. Gilmore, president of the Student Loan Alliance (SLA). SLA is an online resource for borrowers challenged with excessive student loan debt, helping them to receive comprehensive holistic financial counseling, education and assistance.
Larry was also past cofounder, CEO, and president of the HOPE LoanPort, the mortgage industry portal designed to facilitate the submission of full modification applications to mortgage servicers. He’s held a variety of high-level positions in the mortgage industry, including VP of Emerging Markets for Option One, Associate Director of Industry Relations at the Mortgage Banking Association, and Manager of Market Opportunities for Norwest Mortgage (now Wells Fargo).
Tell us a little bit about the Student Loan Alliance, and the goals for your group.
The Student Loan Alliance is the sole national organization representing nonprofit credit counseling organizations active in providing borrowers student loan counseling. Core objectives include:
•Standardizing the delivery of counseling – traditionally, student loan counseling has been specific to entrance and exit education or primarily focused on the student loan debt itself.Existing measures don’t exist in standardizing the mediums in which counseling is provided and measuring the quality of that counseling
•Providing multiple mediums meeting borrowers where their most comfortable for assistance – SLA currently connects borrowers through our website StudentLoanHelp.org, in which counseling is provided via phone and face to face in some cases. Our goal is to expand this to include a toll free line and other communication mediums.
•Increasing borrower awareness of their best workout options – for federal loans, there are a number of repayment options available in which a small number of borrowers are currently taking advantage. SLA will develop major national campaigns to increase awareness, connect borrowers to counseling, and assist with application submission.
•Promoting affective private, public, nonprofit partnerships – Currently there are ongoing challenges student loan lenders, collection agencies, and regulators have making right party contact, ensuring borrowers are aware of their options, and ensuring applications are submitted in a timely fashion.
You have some experience with the housing industry and the housing crisis. How do the current student loan issues compare?
These to industries have numerous similarities and a few glaring differences that include:
Dual Markets – Like the prime and subprime mortgage industry, the student loan industry has federal and private lending.Like the subprime lending industry, private student lending provides less borrower protections, fewer work out options, risk based priced lending, and a higher concentration of underserved segments that use these loans.
These industries are not similar in that:
Your average at risk homeowner has few loans; borrowers are more likely to know who their lender/servicer is and the general status of their loan. Student loan borrowers have more than four loans and in many cases don’t know whether their loans are federal/private, subsidized/unsubsidized.
Though mortgage servicing practices have had their challenges and have slowly improved, there is less standardization in how student loans are serviced, what repayment options exist, and public transparency related to workout options particularly among private loans.
What does the future look like for student loans? Do you think education costs will continue to outpace the average American student’s ability to pay?
Yes. More federal workout options exist, online educational materials have been developed, and increase performance requirements on colleges to reduce cohort default rates are good steps forward. The current cost of higher education, though I foresee it increasing at a slower rate, will take some time before borrower’s ability to pay can catch up with today’s rates. I don’t see today’s rates decreasing substantially considering the ongoing high demand for higher education.
(Please join us next week for part two of this interview.)
by SpringFour | Oct, 7, 2013 | Default
As we enter week #2 of the government shutdown, we took a hard look at how it would affect the mortgage market. Here’s what we found:
* If the shutdown lasts only another week or so, the impact will be minimal.
* Fannie and Freddie aren’t affected.
* FHA is continuing to process loans, but with a much much smaller staff. According to a recent WSJ article, HUD, of which the FHA is a part, is working with only 64 of its 2,972 employees.
* The biggest hassle for those buying homes or looking for a loan modification right now? The IRS is shut down, which means they aren’t issuing Form 4506-T. So what, you ask? This form is what mortgage lenders use to verify borrower income. Lenders are being forced to decide whether or not to close loans or give loan modifications without this form. In this age of increased scrutiny, it’s a tougher question than you might think.
What concerns us most, however, is the 800,000 government employees who have been essentially laid off without pay. Keeping their financial house in order becomes more difficult without a paycheck. MK’s resources are here to help, offering local help in 20+ categories to those in need. Those affected should contact their mortgage lender, or see their website for the MortgageKeeper icon.
by SpringFour | Sep, 16, 2013 | Default
We’ve talked in this space before of the housing recovery being perhaps overstated. As the usage of our products–which help struggling homeowners find local resources to help them stabilize their finances–increases, we can’t quite get on the recovery bandwagon.
A recent article in The Guardian supports our view: the reason a recovery isn’t starting is not because interest rates are high (historically, they aren’t). It’s stalled because the first-time homebuyer is being left out.
As The Guardian article puts it, “In a nutshell, what’s hurting the housing recovery is that there aren’t enough houses to buy, and those that are available are too expensive.”
Thus new homebuyers can’t afford to join in the recovery, and they continue to rent, or live with their parents. As our record usage numbers point out, personal finances aren’t recovering. And without new homebuyers, the housing market will continue to limp along.
![Debt Free is the New Sexy]()
by SpringFour | Aug, 19, 2013 | Default
A few of us here at MortgageKeeper live and work from Minneapolis…home of long winters, glorious (but short) summers, and the Mall of America.
Today at the Mall, one of us was people-watching. What we saw was a twenty-something sporting a charcoal colored tee shirt with these words:
“Debt Free is the New Sexy.”
True? False? Is being debt free better these days that being wealthy? Or attractive? What do you think?
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