In-house lender servicing offers total control when it comes to the allocation, or reallocation, of resources.
Dominic Maher is COO at Foundation Home Loans
There are many types of lender. Each have their own individual approaches in terms of how they generate and service new and existing business.
When it comes to post-completion servicing capabilities, much of this takes places in the shadows – and by that I mean it happens efficiently and effectively without much fanfare.
And let’s face it, I can’t imagine it would have been of any great interest to intermediaries in the past.
However, we are currently operating in a new world where lenders are under more scrutiny than ever, as the situation and the regulator impose unprecedented demands on them.
As such, it’s important to be as transparent as possible when it comes to satisfying these requirements and highlighting how we are supporting your clients through these challenging times.
With that in mind, I thought I would focus on one area which has really risen to prominence during the current crisis, and that is the importance of in-house lender servicing.
So, what are the benefits of in-house lender servicing?
Individual borrowing needs are always shifting, but this period has outlined just how fast they can change and how quickly lenders have to move in assigning the right skill set and experience to tackle these ongoing challenges.
In-house lender servicing offers total control when it comes to the allocation, or reallocation, of resources.
Here at Foundation, we have been always been prepared to call upon additional resources from within the business who have worked in the customer services and collections world previously. Would this have been so easy if we had outsourced this? In ‘normal’ conditions maybe, but when lenders are all in the same boat, arguably not.
Lenders have had to develop and deploy new processes quickly, almost at the drop of a hat. And it is much more difficult for those outsourced firms who are servicing the needs of a variety of lenders to swiftly learn and implement an array of new policies.
For our in-house team, the customer is the borrower. For the servicing firm, the customer is the lender. This represents a totally different dynamic and lenders who service their borrowers in-house have the ability to make the necessary adjustments and communications in a speedier, more direct manner.
They just know more about their customers through the build-up of regular dialogue.
Operating systems in-house means there are no third-party service-level agreements that can affect response rates and allows the creation of new solutions to be managed at pace – especially pertinent in a regulated environment.
It tends to generate deeper customer relationships as staff know and live the company culture. A factor which offers lenders the opportunity to extend their core values through their employees. And such support service teams can react quicker, alleviating borrower stress and anxiety during these hard times.
Ultimately, our in-house servicing team have allowed us to be agile, remain in control and offer good outcomes for broker’s clients under difficult circumstances.
These challenging times have really underlined how fluid and flexible lenders have to be in the modern mortgage market. Having post-completion servicing and new business functions in-house under one roof really helps.
