Stewart Offers Short Sale and Deed-in-Lieu Services to Mortgage Servicers
February 23, 2010
Stewart Lender Services (SLS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Title Company, announced a solution to help mortgage servicers meet the requirements of the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program. HAFA provides additional options and incentives to borrowers, servicers and investors who utilize a short sale or deed-in-lieu to avoid costly foreclosures.
"SLS is an industry leader – offering mortgage servicers an effective alternative to costly in-house processing," said Jason Nadeau, SLS president and chief executive officer. "Our Home Retention Services group has now developed a solution for mortgage servicers seeking an efficient means for complying with HAFA requirements. Using an experienced and proven FDCPA-compliant Borrower Contact Center and fully integrated workflows, we can handle properties throughout the distressed asset continuum – loan modification, short sale, deed-in-lieu, foreclosure, asset management and disposition – improving communication among all parties and accelerating transaction completion."
Borrowers can be transitioned from the failed loan modification to a short sale option, and further on to a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure in the event the short sale is unsuccessful.
To compress the time for completing a short sale, or implementing a deed-in-lieu, SLS title and settlement teams work to identify any potential title issues and necessary third-party payoffs to immediately begin curative title work. This assists in investor and mortgage insurance negotiations and ensures that hurdles in the transaction are cleared prior to the receipt of an offer to purchase the property or transfer of deed.
Deed-in-lieu transactions are often complex and ultimately require the experience of a title underwriter to complete. SLS has the experience and vested interest to ensure each transaction is conducted properly. Stewart combines a proven loss-mitigation organization with more than 100 years experience in complex title curative services to provide a seamless solution.
Stewart said its combined short sale/deed-in-lieu process and proactive title review offers a single-source foreclosure alternative solution that allows for a smooth transfer from short sale to deed-in-lieu eliminating any delays in the marketing of the property after transfer to the lender.
Contact ALTA at 202-296-3671 or communications@alta.org.