Washington, D.C
National Property Preservation Conference Returned to Washington, D.C.
The “Preservation Puzzles: Approaching Challenges With Innovative Solutions” panel
Growing up, it seemed like every neighborhood had that one “creepy” house. Maybe it was abandoned, maybe it was home to a quiet introvert who occasionally peeks out through the curtains.
Regardless, these are places that collect mythology like fishing nets collect ocean-borne garbage, gathering stories and rumors that are pretty much always more interesting than reality. But out here in actual reality—those homes are probably just in need of a good property preservation vendor.
The property preservation sector serves a crucial function within the market: helping maintain vacant properties, ensuring the lawns are cut, the windows and doors are secure, and no one is breaking in to squat, strip out copper, or worse. They help prevent urban blight, maintain neighborhood property values, and eventually, help ensure those homes are in good shape when they return to the market.
But the difficulties facing the prop pres sector have rarely been more daunting, ranging from struggles to maintain a sufficient workforce, to the headwinds of inflationary costs, to the simple fact that much of the diminished REO stock is more spread out and requiring more “windshield time” just to get people out to them in the first place.
All these issues and more were up for discussion at November’s National Property Preservation Conference (NPPC) in Washington, D.C. Hosted by Safeguard Properties since 2004, the NPPC was the brainchild of Safeguard’s late founder, Robert Klein, who created the event to fill a perceived gap for an industry event that was solely focused on trends and challenges within the property preservation space, as opposed to just being included as a single panel or two within a more generalized event such as the Five Star Conference. As the official NPPC homepage puts it, Klein’s vision was to “bring together all facets of the mortgage field services industry to discuss pressing issues and develop solutions.”
This year’s NPPC lineup honored that legacy well, bringing together a top-tier lineup of industry speakers from prop pres, mortgage servicing, government agencies, and the GSEs. They all gathered for three beautiful November days at the InterContinental Washington D.C.-The Wharf, filing into a sun-filled ballroom overlooking the Potomac for a packed lineup of panels and speakers.
The “Fielding the Future: Tech Trends in Prop Pres” panel
Following a welcome reception on Monday night, the curriculum kicked off early Tuesday with a fireside chat featuring insights from Sandra L. Thompson, Director, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), moderated by Joe Iafigliola, CFO of Safeguard Properties. Director Thompson discussed her priorities and perspectives in leading FHFA and where she is focusing the Agency in 2024.
The event then transitioned to one of its annual staples: the “Leadership Insights: Navigating the Industry Landscape” panel moderated by Ed Delgado; AMP, Managing Director, Mortgage Policy Advisors; and Chairman Emeritus of Five Star Global (MortgagePoint’s parent company). As he does every year at NPPC, Delgado assembled a cross-section of industry experts that not even a brief fire alarm could derail. This year’s panel included Alan Jaffa, CEO, Safeguard Properties; Marcel Bryar, Founder and Managing Director, Mortgage Policy Advisors, LLC; Timika Scott, SVP, US Bank; Dror Oppenheimer, CFO, Gate House Strategies, LLC; John Thibaudeau, VP, Single-Family Real Estate Asset Management, Fannie Mae; and Eric Will, Senior Director, REO/Single-Family Portfolio & Servicing Division, Freddie Mac.
Five Star Global Chairman Ed Delgado moderates the “Leadership Insights” panel
Delgado led the panel through topics ranging from federal efforts to address housing affordability and supply shortages to discussions of inflation, asset disposition timelines, how tech advances such as AI are impacting the mortgage industry, homeowners’ ongoing exits from COVID-19-era forbearance plans, the state of REO, whether the Fed will manage its “soft landing,” and updates on property preservation allowable fees (check out November 2023’s MortgagePoint cover story for more on all of this, including details on HUD’s allowable fee changes that were announced during the conference).
Next up was a “Legislative Update: Legal Developments and Regulatory Shifts,” moderated by Linda Erkkila, General Counsel and EVP, Safeguard Properties, with insights from panelists Will Jarrell, Supervising Attorney, Aldridge Pite, LLP; Chip Nolan, AVP, Client Experience, Bron; and Sean P. Edwards, Partner, Sanders, Warren & Russell LLP.
This panel dove primarily into important regulatory changes impacting property preservation, as well as providing a look at various relevant case law unfolding around the nation.
The first full day’s panel lineups continued to explore a diverse range of topics, including:
Data and Process Gaps That Need to be Addressed
- Moderator: Mike Greenbaum, COO, Safeguard Properties
- Jami Sherr, President & CEO, Sterling Claims Management
- Sarah Dallas, VP of Programs, ISN Corporation
- Justin Tucker, VP, MSR Servicing Oversight & Asset Management, Lakeview Loan Servicing
- Matt Pratt, AVP, US Bank.
Fielding the Future: Tech Trends in Prop Pres
- Moderator: Scott Heller, VP, Information Technology, Safeguard Properties
- Robyn Bui, SVP of Sales & Business Development, Quality Claims Management Corp.
- Chad Soppe, VP, Property Preservation, National Field Resources (NFR)
- Clint Lien, VP Cost Research and Product Development, The Bluebook International
- Arvin Malkani, CEO, ISN Corporation
Be Prepared: Preventative Actions to Weather Disasters
- Moderator: Jennifer Hopkins, Manager, Client Accounts, Safeguard Properties
- Johanna Granados, Account Executive, Verisk
- Carla Johnson, CEO, Earthvisionz
- Scott Arnold, VP, National Field Representatives
- Priscilla Rivera, VP Client & Operational Development, Sterling Claims Management
Preservation Puzzles: Approaching Challenges With Innovative Solutions
- Moderator: Elizabeth Squires, AVP Client Accounts, Safeguard Properties
- Tiffany Fletcher, SVP of Compliance, VRM Mortgage Services
- Talia Ramirez, VP, Claims, Preservation & Government Servicing Oversight, Specialized Loan Servicing
- Micole Booker, AVP, Senior Preservation & Post-Sale Disposition Manager, Flagstar Bank
- Thomas Foster, VP, Altisource
HUD/ISN Panel
- Moderator: Lisa Solis, Director Investor Compliance, Safeguard Properties
- William Collins, Director, National Servicing Center at U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Ryan McDoulett, Program Director, ISN Corporation
- Tim Brandt, Deputy Programs Director, ISN Corporation
The HUD/ISN panel
The day’s lunch break also included a special update, exclusive to sponsors, from Julienne Joseph, Chief of Staff for HUD. Returning to the event for a second year, Joseph walked the more intimate sponsor lunch crowd through some of HUD’s 2023 initiatives, including their February 2023 reduction of mortgage insurance premiums, which HUD had estimated could “save new homebuyers with FHA-insured mortgages an average of $800 per year” and help “lower housing costs for an estimated 850,000 borrowers in 2023” (per HUD’s announcement at the time).
Julienne Joseph, Chief of Staff for HUD, speaks at the sponsor luncheon
Joseph also touched on HUD’s 2022 decision to begin considering first-time homebuyers’ rental history as a factor in credit decisioning. She expanded upon how that system has been working behind the scenes and provided some brief updates and estimates on what the impact of that change may be and how many homebuyers they hope to impact.
The second full day of NPPC opened with another keynote, this time from Sarah Edelman, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Single-Family Housing at FHA, and moderated by Jennifer Hopkins, Manager of Client Accounts for Safeguard Properties. Hopkins guided Edelman and the audience through a high-level discussion of FHA’s role in mortgage servicing and how that mission is evolving, how FHA assists homeowners facing financial hardships, and how the increased prevalence and severity of natural disasters are impacting the industry, including the consequences of inadequate insurance coverage and of insurers beginning to retreat from highly impacted states such as Florida.
In the first panel of the day, “Blight Busters: A Conversation With Code Compliance,” moderator Steve Meyer, AVP High Risk & Investor Compliance, Safeguard Properties, headed up a panel that included Bryan Wagner, Neighborhood Service Division Manager, Westerville, Ohio and President of AACE (American Association of Code Enforcement); April O’Brien, Development Services Supervisor, City of Aurora, Illinois; Joseph Brewer, Manager, Office of Code Enforcement, City of Hyattsville, Maryland; and Victor Martinez, Conde Compliance Manager, Apache Junction, Arizona and First VP of AACE.
The “Blight Busters: A Conversation With Code Compliance” panel
Meyer led a discussion that touched on the purpose and strategies behind Code Compliance in each speaker’s municipality, how their day-to-day tasks and workflows break down, how complaints are noted and responded to, what areas are typically considered “high risk,” how mortgage servicers can best work with Code Compliance departments, how enforcement is implemented, and what some of the most common compliance issues are (“high grass/weeds” topped the list, with issues such as “paint/exterior surfaces,” “securing,” “accessory structures,” and “debris/sanitation” rounding out the rest).
The Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac panel
Moderator Kara Soppelsa, Manager of Client Accounts, Safeguard Properties, next moderated a panel discussion featuring nearly a half-dozen Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac representatives. The lineup included:
- Shubha Shivapurkar, Senior Director Non-Performing Loans Management, Freddie Mac
- Geoff Williams, Loss Mitigation Manager, Freddie Mac
- Kimberly Dawson, SF Collateral Risk-Real Estate Asset Management Director, Fannie Mae
- Jeff Mager, Field Services Manager, Fannie Mae
- Kimberly Shurtleff, Hazard Claims and Code Compliance Manager, Fannie Mae
Soppelsa and the panelists engaged in a wide-ranging conversation, starting with broad discussions of where the economy may be headed in 2024 and the top challenges facing the property preservation sector currently. The various GSE representatives discussed changes in pricing and allowable fees, pre-foreclosure repair processes and procedures, managing code and hazard claims, and how emergent technologies may impact the prop pres space.
The 2023 National Property Preservation Conference sponsors included Brookstone Management (Platinum), MFS Supply (Gold), the American Association of Code Enforcement (Gold), Sterling Claims Management (Silver), Altisource (Bronze), National Field Representatives (Bronze), Auction.com (Partner), Automated Print & Promo (Partner), DhanInfo (Partner), First Allegiance (Partner), IMS Datawise (Partner), Occutrack (Partner), RepairBase (Partner), Verisk (Partner), VRM Mortgage Services (Partner), and the Five Star Institute and MortgagePoint Magazine (Speaker Sponsors). Next year’s NPPC will be held at MGM National Harbor on November 11-13, 2024, celebrating the event’s 20th anniversary. Tai Christensen, President of Arrive Home and Chair of Five Star’s American Mortgage Diversity Council, will be delivering a Keynote Speech at the event. For more information, please visit nppconf.com.
Just in time for the Fourth of July, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., has rolled out a big new exhibit highlighting nature in all its glory, with specimens from across America. But the Hawaiʻi offerings are a bit of a dud.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is a vast repository, occupying a stately edifice on the National Mall. It holds some 148 million objects, including more than a million from Hawaiʻi, including eight priceless feathered cloaks, but when the institution’s curators picked out one item to exemplify each state for this exhibit, they gave Hawaiʻi a rock.
Yes, a rock.
Seen in person, it’s a striking black clump of glittering pāhoehoe lava, and of course we are proud of our lava, but it comes across as, well, underwhelming.
Millions of visitors are expected to arrive in Washington, D.C. in the next two weeks. Many will be drawn by the fanfare associated with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the eyes of many Americans, President Trump has tainted the occasion by claiming personal sponsorship of it.
To be fair, the city is looking pretty good, decked out in its finery for the events, and some improvements have been made. Flags are flying; the lawns look green and lush. The scene is drawing large crowds of tourists from all over the world, cheerfully milling about and popping into the many free museums that line the mall.
There are also some notable exceptions: The reflecting pond by the Lincoln Memorial is definitely tainted by algae infiltration. There’s also a bit of slime attached to what was reportedly a no-bid job for the renovation work by a Trump donor.
Also to be fair here: Hawaiʻi has had difficulties with its own reflecting pool, the now-waterless water feature at the State Capitol.
Amid the ongoing partisan warfare, Hawaiʻi’s state government, along with about 10 other Democratic-controlled states, has decided not to participate in the D.C. festivities. That includes the Great American State Fair, now being set up on the National Mall, which will host some 56 themed pavilions where individual states are expected to highlight what they believe makes them special. Sprawling over 10 city blocks, crowned by a 110-foot ferris wheel, the festival will feature concerts, military flyovers, fireworks displays, movie screenings and exhibit spaces representing the nation’s states and territories.
In a statement, Erika Engle, a spokeswoman for Gov. Josh Green, said the state is not officially participating, adding that no funds had been allotted for it by the Legislature or Congress.
She added that Washington, D.C, “is 5,000 miles away.”
That’s a distance that hasn’t previously inhibited the governor, whose peregrinations to the nation’s capital have almost qualified him as a frequent flyer.
This is supposed to be a sign of how Hawaiʻi’s leaders are effectively rejecting Trump. As if Trump cares whether Hawaiʻi participates or not.
It’s a strange place to make a stand. July Fourth is bigger than any president. The signing of the Declaration of Independence represents a rare kind of bravery. The 56 signers risked their lives to sign it, knowing they would have a target on their backs, placed there by King George III, one of the world’s most powerful monarchs.
In fact, people who signed resolutions against the king in the past could expect persecution not just in this life but in the next. In England in the 1630s, the autocratic King Charles I decided to bypass the elected body and instead to rule by executive order. Discarding established law and tradition, he disbanded Parliament for 11 years.
The English people thought that was high-handed and, amid a set of bloody civil wars that killed 200,000 people, he was eventually executed. But when his son was restored to the throne in 1660, the 59 people who had signed the former king’s death warrant were themselves hunted down. Many were drawn and quartered; the lucky were imprisoned for life.
Oliver Cromwell, the Parliamentary ringleader, had already died but his corpse was exhumed and he was hanged. His body was hung in chains and his decapitated head was impaled on a pike and put on public display for 20 years. Almost 100 years later, his embalmed head was still being carted about as a gruesome trophy, even as the signers of the Declaration of Independence put pen to paper.
Back in 1776, the memory of what vengeful kings do to their enemies was high in the minds of those who were publicly protesting Charles II’s autocratic heir, George III. In fact, one of the first ships built and commissioned by the Connecticut General Assembly, launched just two weeks before the Declaration of Independence was signed, was named the Oliver Cromwell.
Democracy has had its ups and downs.
Back to the exhibit at the Smithsonian.
The goal of the curators was to reflect America’s natural diversity and how humans interact with it. In dozens of exhibits spread over 5,000 square feet, visitors can learn about the oddities and idiosyncrasies in the natural world, from rocks to birds to butterflies to snakes to fossils to plants and also how humans have incorporated these items into crafts and artistry. It touched on the problems of animal extinction and climate change.
A video graphic allows people to track bird migration routes across the continental United States.
One display explains the long history of traditional blacksmithing in Guam, another provides examples of Samoan siapo bark cloth.
In addition to several lava rocks representing Hawaiʻi, the exhibit also featured a lovely Niʻihau snail shell necklace and a goby fish from Kāneʻohe Bay, which the exhibition touted as one of the largest sheltered bodies of water in Hawaiʻi, known for its living corals.
But more striking symbols of Hawaiʻi seemed notably sparse and some obvious elements are missing. How nice it would have been to see a feathered cape or an example of one of the brightly colored lizards that have played such an important role in Hawaiian mythology. I would have liked to have seen more of Hawaiʻi’s beautiful birds and butterflies.
Another thing that appears to have gone missing are Hawaiian philanthropic donors making the case for the state’s natural splendors. The display’s list of financial sponsors shows philanthropy from both blue and red states but nothing from Hawaiʻi.
That’s partly because we are suffering another form of extinction. We have a lot fewer large companies based in Hawaiʻi than we once did, and so there are fewer corporate sponsors. Even Hawaiian Airlines, once a mainstay of exhibits like this that appeal to frequent travelers, has been subsumed into an airline from another state.
We do have more billionaires than we once did, of course, but they own estates in so many places that it is hard to know what they actually consider home.
They just better not steal our rocks.
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To mark Gun Violence Awareness Month, residents in Southeast D.C. came together to search for a lasting solution.
The Trigger Project held a peace walk Saturday afternoon reflecting on lives impacted by gun violence
The Trigger Project decided to host the walk to give victims’ loved ones a chance to be among others who have experienced the pain of losing a loved one.
The agency said it prides itself on getting the word out about how to prevent gun violence through lived experiences, community leadership and partnerships. The group aims to uplift young people through healing, opportunity and connection while addressing the root causes of gun violence. Another critical part of the event was to ensure that young people have a safe space where they can hang out.
“We’re losing too many of our babies to the streets, you know what I’m saying?” said Darlene Williams, who said she has been a victim of gun violence and also lost her granddaughter to gun violence. “Like I say, the guns don’t kill, people kill. [..] Be around other people, you know what I’m saying, that’s going through the same thing that we’re going through.”
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