MERS 2010 User Conference

July 5th, 2010

MERS User Conference
Reston, Virginia
June 21-22, 2010

Keynote Address, Robert Klein

On Monday, June 21st Robert Klein had the distinct honor of delivering the Keynote Address to roughly 200 attendees at the annual MERS User Conference in Reston, Virginia.  Esteemed introductions were offered by Doug Danko, who acknowledged Robert as being “at the forefront of the war” on foreclosures and possessing a clear vision of the problems facing our nation.  The solid relationship between MERS and the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) was a direct outcome of Robert’s leadership as Chair of the trade organization’s Vacant Property Registration Committee.  The Committee’s influence on the development and national promotion of the MERS Initiative has led to positive legislative outcomes as the State of Virginia HB 2150 and State of Connecticut SB 951 , as well as the cities of Chula Vista and Los Angeles, have incorporated MERS/electronic database systems into their Bills as alternatives to hard copy registration The MERS Alternative to Vacant-Property Registration Ordinances.

Robert confirmed that the apparent signs of the national foreclosure crisis and the vacant blight issue were detected approximately five years ago.  As time passed, the negative impacts from the growing volume of vacant properties began to mount, specifically witnessed in terms of neighborhood blight, threats to public safety, and diminishing property values.  Municipal Code Enforcement Departments attempted to contact the parties responsible for property compliance, including servicers, using addresses provided by the County Recorder Offices and those listed on other public records.  The inability to obtain the correct point of contact information led to an unintended lack of response by the servicers and, understandably, pure frustration on the part of the cities.  Under the impression that banks do not care about the integrity of properties or neighborhoods, municipalities across the nation, nearly 450 to date, responded with the enactment of Vacant Property Registrations Ordinances, each containing inconsistent regulations and differing fee structures, thereby making compliance nearly infeasible Vacant Property Registration Matrix. 

Identifying the magnitude of this issue, members of the mortgage servicing industry convened to share their expertise and identified and created multiple solutions.   Robert indicated that, as a national field service provider, his contributions included relaying his first-hand findings and street-level perspectives of the impacts from the various Ordinances, including those cities with extreme requirements and excessive fees/fines.  During the course of one year of regularly scheduled conference calls, the MERS Initiative was developed and introduced to six pilot cities.  Following its measurable successes of hit rates ranging from 40%-80% and 97% compliance within 72 hours after making contact, MERS was expanded for use on a national scale and nearly550 cities and government organizations are currently enrolled with free access.

Also, the Committee created a Model Ordinance incorporating requirements that draw on the needs expressed by municipalities and the industry’s best practices for property preservation.  It includes the provision that allows for a property that is registered on MERS to be exempt from hard copy registrations and the associated fees.  The Model Ordinance, based on the amended Chula Vista Ordinance,  is available as a tool for cities either considering drafting an Ordinance or amending one that has been enacted.

Robert reported that an ancillary benefit to these efforts has been the drastic increase in communication between the industry and communities.  These initiatives have minimized the once noticeable and hindering gaps in understanding held by city representatives with respect to the best practices actively executed by servicers.  This outreach has generated an unprecedented collaboration Effective Communication-Code Enforcement and the Servicing Industry.  Although we are not “there” yet, we have a solid momentum in place.  As members of the industry, Robert invited all attendees to contribute to these efforts.

Key Enhancements Session Summary
MERS Moderators:
Jay Arneja
Jaqi Hasty

This session shared an overview of the programming upgrades and new enhancement features released and installed during the past 12 months.  These were created to meet and advance the business demands of the User population. 

System Release 18.1 enhancements included, but were not limited to, batch inquiries for vendors, loan data submission, incident reports, notification alerts, monitoring platforms, report management, and fraud alerts.

System Release 19.0 was of profound interest to, and applicable for, members of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Vacant Property Registration Committee, partners with MERS on the MERS Initiative, as Property Preservation Company (PPC) enhancements were included among the upgrades.
PPC fields have been added to the Detail Portfolio Analysis Reports
The Portfolio Analysis report has been enhanced to include PPC information
Originating Organizations and PPC Fields have been added to the Transaction Default Settings

In summary, the upgrades within this Release have created new opportunities for the additional identification and insertion of PPC details.  Steve asked for additional clarification and was given confirmation by the MERS Developers that the new default feature will allow for the broad application/insertion of PPC contact information that corresponds directly with a specific Org ID.  The impacts of this enhancement will prove very helpful and significant for the Direct Field Servicer Upload process, as when a new loan/property is registered on MERS, the System has the capability of automatically populating the PPC fields.

If you would like to comment on this alert or would like any other information, please contact robert.klein1@safeguardproperties.com

About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest privately held field services company in the country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio and founded in 1990 by Robert Klein, Safeguard has grown from a regional preservation company with a few employees and a handful of contractors performing services in the Midwest, to a national company with over 700 employees. Safeguard is supported by a nationwide network of subcontractors able to perform any requested superintendence, preservation, and maintenance functions, as well as numerous ancillary services in the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.