Press Release: The Top Six Questions to Ask Your Servicer

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The world of finance is changing in almost every sector, and nowhere is that change more obvious than in the loan servicing industry. To address the need for investors to choose their new servicer wisely, Doug Henkel, CEO of national loan servicer First Associates, Inc. recently shared some key servicer questions with the California Mortgage Bankers Association (CMBA).

"In the past, servicing was often considered a commodity--even an afterthought," explains Henkel. "Price was all-important, and investors wanted servicing done as cheaply as possible. Many critical phases were outsourced internationally, and operations were tightened. This worked well in an era of low delinquency and high employment, but we're facing a far different situation in the current economy."

According to Henkel in his article What to Look for In a Servicer, servicers must re-tool and change processes so that they match the needs of their investors' portfolios. Investors, for their part, must choose their servicer not solely on brand-equity and pricing, but on factors such as experience, technology, methodology and capacity.

These attributes can often be discovered through the following six questions:

• What's the Delinquency Rate of your current portfolio? Simply stated, you cannot expect your servicer to manage your portfolio effectively, if they don't stay on top of their other portfolios.
• When was your last technology or software upgrade? After a cycle where price was king and cost efficiencies ruled the day, many servicers are not updating their platforms. Make sure yours has.
• What's your Servicing Strategy... and what did it used to be? Going from "low-cost" to "high-touch" may sound like a smart move, but it represents a significant operational change.
• Can you really do all you say you can, at those pricing levels? In order to be successful, today's servicer must engage in several time-consuming and non-outsource processes - processes that may not have been necessary several years ago.
• How long have you been in business and how strong are your financial statements? After checking to see what experience your prospective servicer has, ask to see a copy of their financial statements.
• Are you the right size for my needs? This takes careful reflection before you seek out a servicer. If you have a portfolio full of problems and work-out issues and you want special attention, you may want to consider a smaller servicer with a "clean plate."

To review the entire article at the CMBA website, go to www.cmba.com/new/newsletters/09/CMFN-Fall09.pdf.

Press Release: DebtMarket, First Associates Partner to Offer Lenders New Liquidity Options, Faster Transfer of Loan Servicing

LOS ANGELES & SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE – September 9, 2009) -- DebtMarket (www.debtmarket.com), the first automated marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of loan portfolios, and First Associates, Inc.(www.1stassociates.com), one of the nation's premier consumer loan servicing firms, today announced a partnership that will provide schools, banks, credit unions and other financial institutions a new way to sell the loans they originate and offer faster transfer of loan servicing once a portfolio sale is completed.

Many experts regard a transparent secondary marketplace -- where financial institutions can turn to establish pricing and transact sales of hundreds of billions of troubled consumer loans -- as a critical step toward an economic recovery. Once these portfolios are sold, loan servicers are responsible for coordinating loan payment from the consumer to the new institutional owner of the loan. Integrating access to this new, technology-based secondary market for loans with servicing will facilitate a faster, more efficient and cost-effective portfolio transaction for clients of both companies.

The recently launched DebtMarket technology platform enables sellers of consumer loan portfolios to list loans representing any asset class, size of portfolio, credit quality and loan performance; establish and negotiate pricing using an auction-style marketplace; perform due diligence; and close and fund the sale. The partnership with First Associates will enable portfolio sellers and buyers to further streamline the transaction process by speeding the transfer of loan servicing, thus helping eliminate payment disruptions among consumers, who often are confused about where to send payment when a loan is sold.

The partnership provides consumer lenders already served by First Associates with free access to DebtMarket's standardized, efficient technology-enabled portfolio sales marketplace that enables them to establish market pricing for assets and provides an end-to-end transaction management platform. DebtMarket sellers pay a percentage fee only after a portfolio sale closes.

"First Associates offers the experience, outstanding technology, infrastructure and scalability to meet the servicing needs of the schools, banks, credit unions and other credit providers DebtMarket serves," said First Associates CEO Doug Henkel. "Partnering with DebtMarket brings a whole new dimension to the lenders we already serve at a time when liquidity and establishing market pricing for portfolios has been an issue for them."

"Our partnership with First Associates is another step in the direction of a more efficient and transparent process for pricing and selling consumer debt portfolios," said DebtMarket Co-founder and President Mike Sheridan. "In addition to providing a potential solution to our financial system's liquidity crisis, our intent is to partner with market leaders like First Associates to bring value-added services and relationships to our clients and leverage new marketing channels with select business partners."

About DebtMarket
DebtMarket (www.debtmarket.com) is the world's first automated marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of loan portfolios. The innovative DebtMarket technology platform delivers price transparency, process automation and direct buyer/seller communication in a secure online environment. The company has offices in Danville, Calif. and Los Angeles.