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.
The Justice Department has notified D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department that it completed its investigation into whether members of the department manipulated crime data to make crime rates appear lower, sources tell News4.
Multiple law enforcement sources familiar with the matter tell News4 that DOJ will release its findings as early as Monday.
A draft version of the report obtained by News4 describes members of the department as repeatedly downgrading and misclassifying crimes amid pressure to show progress.
MPD’s “official crime statistical reporting mechanism is likely unreliable and inaccurate due to misclassifications, errors, and/or purposefully downgraded classifications and reclassifications. A significant number of MPD reports are misclassified,” the draft report says.
Investigators spoke with more than 50 witnesses and reviewed thousands of police reports, the draft report says. Witnesses described a change under Chief of Police Pamela Smith.
“While witnesses cite misclassifications and purposely downgraded classifications of criminal offenses at MPD for years prior, there appears to have been a significant increase in pressure to reduce crime during Pamela Smith’s tenure as Chief of Police that some describe as coercive,” the draft report says.
The draft report faults a “coercive culture” at in-person crime briefings held twice a week.
“The individuals presenting are denigrated and humiliated in front of their peers. They are held responsible for whatever recent crime has occurred in their respective districts. For instance, if a district had a homicide and numerous ADWs over a weekend, Chief Smith would hold the Commander of that district personally responsible,” the draft report says.
Smith announced this week that she will step down from her position at the end of the month. News4 asked her on Monday if she is leaving because of the allegations and she said they didn’t play into her decision.
The DOJ review is one of two that were launched in relation to MPD crime stats, along with a separate investigation by the House Oversight Committee.
Both MPD and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office have been given copies of the report. They did not immediately respond to inquiries by News4. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. also did not immediately respond.
News4 was first to report in July that the commander of MPD’s 3rd District was under investigation for allegedly manipulating crime statistics on his district. Cmdr. Michael Pulliam was placed on leave with pay and denied the allegations. The White House flagged the reporting.
“D.C. gave Fake Crime numbers in order to create a false illusion of safety. This is a very bad and dangerous thing to do, and they are under serious investigation for so doing!” President Donald Trump wrote on social media.
Trump has repeatedly questioned MPD crime statistics. He put News4’s reporting in the spotlight on Aug. 11, when he federalized the police department. He brought up the allegations against Pulliam at a news conference, and the White House linked to News4’s reporting in a press release titled “Yes, D.C. crime is out of control.”
A D.C. police commander is under investigation for allegedly making changes to crime statistics in his district. News4’s Paul Wagner reports the department confirmed he was placed on leave in mid-May.
D.C. Police Union Chairman Gregg Pemberton told NBC News’ Garrett Haake this summerthat he doubts the drop in crime is as large as D.C. officials are touting.
“There’s a, potentially, a drop from where we were in 2023. I think that there’s a possibility that crime has come down. But the department is reporting that in 2024, crime went down 35% — violent crime – and another 25% through August of this year. That is preposterous to suggest that cumulatively we’ve seen 60-plus percent drops in violent crime from where we were in ’23, because we’re out on the street. We know the calls we’re responding to,” he said.
In an exclusive interview on Aug. 11, News4 asked Bowser about the investigation.
“I think that what Paul’s reporting revealed is that the chief of police had concerns about one commander, investigated all seven districts and verified that the concern was with one person. So, we are completing that investigation and we don’t believe it implicates many cases,” she said.
D.C. Chief of Police Pamela Smith will step down at the end of the month after heading the department for less than three years. She spoke about her decision and whether tumult in D.C. including the federal law enforcement surge and community outrage over immigration enforcement played a role. News4’s Mark Segraves reports.
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Washington, D.C
Senators Seek to Change Bill That Allows Military to Operate Just Like Before the DC Plane Crash
Senators from both parties pushed Thursday for changes to a massive defense bill after crash investigators and victims’ families warned the legislation would undo key safety reforms stemming from a collision between an airliner and Army helicopter over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.
The head of the National Transportation Safety Board investigating the crash, a group of the victims’ family members and senators on the Commerce Committee all said the bill the House advanced Wednesday would make America’s skies less safe. It would allow the military to operate essentially the same way as it did before the January crash, which was the deadliest in more than two decades, they said.
Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Committee Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz filed two amendments Thursday to strip out the worrisome helicopter safety provisions and replace them with a bill they introduced last summer to strengthen requirements, but it’s not clear if Republican leadership will allow the National Defense Authorization Act to be changed at this stage because that would delay its passage.
“We owe it to the families to put into law actual safety improvements, not give the Department of Defense bigger loopholes to exploit,” the senators said.
Right now, the bill includes exceptions that would allow military helicopters to fly through the crowded airspace around the nation’s capital without using a key system called ADS-B to broadcast their locations just like they did before the January collision. The Federal Aviation Administration began requiring that in March. NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy called the bill a “significant safety setback” that is inviting a repeat of that disaster.
“It represents an unacceptable risk to the flying public, to commercial and military aircraft, crews and to the residents in the region,” Homendy said. “It’s also an unthinkable dismissal of our investigation and of 67 families … who lost loved ones in a tragedy that was entirely preventable. This is shameful.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he is looking into the concerns but thinks they can be addressed by quickly passing the aviation safety bill that Cruz and Cantwell proposed last summer.
“I think that would resolve the concerns that people have about that provision, and hoping — we’ll see if we can find a pathway forward to get that bill done,” said Thune, a South Dakota Republican.
The military used national security waivers before the crash to skirt FAA safety requirements on the grounds that they worried about the security risks of disclosing their helicopters’ locations. Tim and Sheri Lilley, whose son Sam was the first officer on the American Airlines jet, said this bill only adds “a window dressing fix that would continue to allow for the setting aside of requirements with nothing more than a cursory risk assessment.”
Homendy said it would be ridiculous to entrust the military with assessing the safety risks when they aren’t the experts, and neither the Army nor the FAA noticed 85 close calls around Ronald Reagan National Airport in the years before the crash. She said the military doesn’t know how to do that kind of risk assessment, adding that no one writing the bill bothered to consult the experts at the NTSB who do know.
The White House and military didn’t immediately respond Thursday to questions about these safety concerns. But earlier this week Trump made it clear that he wants to sign the National Defense Authorization Act because it advances a number of his priorities and provides a 3.8% pay raise for many military members.
The Senate is expected to take up the bill next week, and it appears unlikely that any final changes will be made. But Congress is leaving for a holiday break at the end of the week, and the defense bill is considered something that must pass by the end of the year.
Story Continues
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Washington, D.C
Bill would rename former Black Lives Matter Plaza for slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk – WTOP News
A South Carolina Republican Congresswoman wants to rename a well-known stretch of 16th Street NW in D.C. after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
A South Carolina Republican Congresswoman wants to rename a well-known stretch of 16th Street NW in D.C. after slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Rep. Nancy Mace introduced legislation Wednesday to designate the area once known as “Black Lives Matter Plaza” as the “Charlie Kirk Freedom of Speech Plaza.” The proposal comes three months after Kirk was killed while speaking at a free-speech event at a Utah college.
Mace said the change would honor Kirk’s commitment to the First Amendment, calling him “a champion of free speech and a voice for millions of young Americans.” Her bill would require official signs to be placed in the plaza and updates made to federal maps and records.
In a statement, Mace contrasted the unrest that followed George Floyd’s killing in 2020, when the plaza was created, with the response to Kirk’s death, saying the earlier period was marked by “chaos and destruction,” while Kirk’s killing brought “prayer, peace and unity.”
She argued that after Floyd’s death, “America watched criminals burn cities while police officers were ordered to stand down,” adding that officers were “vilified and abandoned by leaders who should have supported them.”
But D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton pushed back, saying Congress should not override local control.
“D.C. deserves to decide what its own streets are named since over 700,000 people live in the city,” Norton wrote on X. “D.C. is not a blank slate for Congress to fill in as it pleases.”
The stretch of 16th Street was originally dedicated as Black Lives Matter Plaza in 2020 following nationwide protests over Floyd’s death. Earlier this year, the city removed the mural.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office declined to comment on the bill, as did several members of the D.C. Council.
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