IMS Helps Servicers Increase Permanent Loan Modifications

- Proprietary ADAPT system enables electronic transfer of documents to servicer -

Integrated Mortgage Solutions (IMS), a collateral protection resource for the mortgage servicing industry, announced at Servicing 10, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Mortgage Servicing Conference & Expo in San Diego, its electronic document retrieval and indexing capabilities. 

 

The Treasury’s January report card showed that 116,297 homeowners were in permanent loan modifications at the end of January and that another 76,482 were extended offers for permanent restructuring. According to Treasury estimates, there are 5.6 million homeowners who are currently 60 days past due on their payments, and, of these, about 1.7 million are eligible for assistance through HAMP.

 

Much of the delay associated with converting trial modifications into permanent modifications has been attributed to the time lapse between determining borrower eligibility and when a borrower sends in the corresponding documents. New guidelines issued by the Treasury Department for loan modifications made on or after June 1 require servicers to receive the following documents upfront from the borrower to begin HAMP proceedings: a request for modification and affidavit (RMA) form; the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 4506T-EZ form and two recent pay stubs from the borrower.

 

To speed the loan modification process, IMS will collect the necessary loan documents from the borrower and deliver those to the servicer electronically. Through its electronic capture and management of the loan documents, IMS aims to enable more permanent loan modifications in the near term. The company’s proprietary ADAPT system enables IMS to retrieve and index the documents electronically, which streamlines the process, eliminating potential loss associated with paper loan documents.   

 

“Servicers today are being tasked with managing an enormous workload,” said Cheryl Lang, president and chief executive officer of IMS. “IMS strives to provide services that help both borrowers and servicers. By offering electronic document retrieval and indexing, we are assisting borrowers by delivering their necessary loan documents in a timely fashion and we are enabling servicers to meet the requirements of HAMP by completing more permanent loan modifications.” 

 

By adopting a philosophy that specifically focuses on the collection of HAMP documents as opposed to other loss mitigation initiatives, IMS is able to fulfill their mission of helping lenders turn trial modifications into permanent modifications. Once IMS receives the documents, they are uploaded into their ADAPT system and quality control is performed prior to the documents being sent to the servicer.