Disasters Demand Automation for Servicing

Managing through back-to-back natural disasters is a terrifying circumstance for homeowners as well as mortgage servicers, and this year’s storm sequence is sure to test everyone’s capacity to be responsive in the face of disaster. I know firsthand as most of our team lives in Pinellas County, Florida. Our streets and our hearts are torn as we all try to recover and seek assistance from our servicers and other providers.

The 2024 season kicked off with the earliest category 5 hurricane on record, Hurricane Beryl. Hurricane Helene arrived as a category 4. Tearing through the west coast of Florida with record storm surges that surpassed anything in history, Helene moved throughout the southeast, devastating the Carolinas. Hurricane Milton followed two weeks later, hitting the western coast of Florida and delivering devastation with record rains, tornadoes, and flooding. We, in Florida, prepared ahead as best we could. The rest of the country had to anxiously watch as these storms grew in size, strength, and category.

Does your servicing operation have the right technology arsenal in place to protect your customers and your delivery of relief?

As we figure out what to do next, what may be on the horizon, and on the heels of hurricane disasters that have yet to be fully assessed, know that we at Clarifire are on the front lines of innovative automation that will help. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) increased its expected storm activity in the recent 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook issued on August 8^th. Noting that there were already two hurricanes and one major hurricane on record, NOAA has forecasted a total of 17 to 25 named storms for this storm season. Hurricanes are expected to total eight to 13, with an additional four to seven storms reaching major hurricane status. Is your technology arsenal ready?

A Servicing Storm on the Horizon

Mortgage servicers are obviously familiar with the impact of natural disasters. However, this year’s storm season is expansive in terms of hurricane volume, storm severity, season duration, and most importantly, the number of homeowners impacted. Additionally, servicing transfers and the sale of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) remain fairly robust, creating their own type of servicing assault for borrowers as the entity servicing their loans is subject to change multiple times after origination. Last but not least, rising escrow costs that reflect the increasing cost of insurance and taxes amidst higher interest rates and the overall impact of economic volatility are generating a larger pool of at-risk borrowers. These pressures on borrowers equate to immense pressures on mortgage servicers. To avoid this servicing operational storm, process automation is vital, delivering responsiveness, rapid relief options, proactive outreach, and education.

Providing Disaster Relief Hits Hard

Are your processes and personnel ready for back-to-back waves of relief requests? As you look at organizational readiness, here’s our top 5 list of operational areas that need your attention:

1. Loss Mitigation Alternatives & Automation – Homeowners need a loss mitigation solution that helps guide them as they assess damages, file claims, wait for insurance and FEMA assistance, and begin the often lengthy repair and rebuild process. This can start with the need to temporarily pause mortgage payments through forbearance and may quickly lead to pursuing a loan modification option to help get payments back on track.
   • CLARIFIRE® delivers rapid, seamless loss mitigation workout and workflow automation that connects the borrower to loss mitigation options beginning with the initial inquiry, self-service request, or personal calls for help.
2. Insurance Relief Coordination – Managing insurance claims, along with federal and state disaster relief programs, can be extremely tedious for both the homeowner and servicers, as both claims and relief payouts require a significant amount of tracking, coordination, education, and administration.
   • CLARIFIRE integrates all of your servicing processes to ensure simultaneous events and complex processes are timely, transparent, and efficient.
3. Damage Assessment & Inspection – Distributing payouts is risky business for servicers as claims and relief payments are held for disbursement until repairs are completed, inspected, and assessed. A careful balancing act is required as servicers manage collateral condition in conjunction with appraisers and property preservation partners, as well as mortgage insurers, while borrowers try to stay on top of both repairs and mortgage payments.
   • CLARIFIRE workflow automation drives claims, disbursements, and inspections with tracking, alert notifications, auditability, and consistent borrower communication.
4. Increased Borrower Communication – The volume of website queries, and phone calls skyrockets before, during, and after disaster hits. Addressing borrower needs requires timely and accurate responses across multiple areas including relief options and process overview, in addition to managing status updates and general relief communications.
   • CLARIFIRE provides interactive real-time responses and access to information using self-serve bi-directional automation.
5. Investor & Compliance Requirements – Agency oversight and regulations necessitate transparency, strong controls, and governance to ensure all of these interactive processes are completed in a timely manner, as well as providing comprehensive borrower education as distressed homeowners navigate relief processes.
   • CLARIFIRE has a proven track record of helping mortgage servicers help borrowers avoid imminent default using proven automation that is considerate of investor and compliance requirements.

Disaster Relief with CLARIFIRE^®

Make sure you’ve reinforced your servicing organization with modern workflow processing before an operational storm surge topples your ability to meet borrower needs and industry requirements. Right set your approach to disaster relief with CLARIFIRE^®’s smart, flexible, and innovative combination of solutions that intuit borrower and servicer needs. We’re here to help you automate complexities and processes, promote relief, identify exceptions, and, most importantly, provide proven results to your distressed borrowers in their time of need. CLARIFIRE^® streamlines all processes, workout and workflow decisioning, and outcomes by automating the chaos.

Minimize the disruption of disaster relief, while you create operational preparedness and position your organization to deliver when and where circumstances demand with CLARIFIRE^®. Experience real-time seamless servicing automation and intelligence now by letting CLARIFIRE^® show you truly BRIGHTER AUTOMATION^® at eClarifire.com.

A special thank you to all of our users, friends, business partners, and industry peers for your caring thoughts and prayers.

Follow us on LinkedIn and X.

 

Jane Mason | @janemasonceo

Jane has applied her vast experience (over 25 years) operating process-driven businesses to successfully redefine client-focused service. Jane has worked with expert programmers to apply cutting-edge web-based technology to automate complex processes in industries such as Financial Services, Healthcare and enterprise workflow. Her vision confirms Clarifire's trajectory as a successful, scaling, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider. A University of South Florida graduate, Jane has received many awards related to her entrepreneurial skills.

 

Like this article? Feel free to share this with a friend or colleague!