June 2016

Take 5

Marcia Griffin, president of

HomeFree-USA, discusses her

company’s goal to get more

people “mortgage ready”

Page 2

More Survey Says

The HLP survey of nonprofit housing

counseling agencies shows they

need help reaching more people

Page 3

M Is For Melchiorre

HLP CEO Cam Melchiorre is one

of several housing industry leaders

featured in June’s MReport

Page 4

US Bank Chooses HLP for Wide Range of Loss Mitigation CasesCompany Seeks to Improve Efficiency, Enhance Ability to Meet Compliance Needs

In one of the broadest deployments of HLP’s technology platform to date, US Bank has

agreed to use HLP throughout its loss mitigation operations nationwide, enabling it to

streamline communications and document exchange for homeowners and HUD-certified

nonprofit housing counselors that represent them.

With the US Bank agreement, HLP now provides its technology to 19 of the nation’s 20

largest mortgage servicers. US Bank Home Mortgage, the company’s mortgage unit, is

one of the largest servicers of home loans in the United States, servicing approximately

$300 billion of mortgages.

…continued on page 4

Lower prices and a simplified enrollment process are putting HLP.Guru’s revolutionary

tools in the hands of more counselors and their clients. For a one-time fee of $100 and

a monthly administrative fee of $50, agencies can help families improve credit scores,

address debt issues and qualify for a mortgage.

Clients enrolling in HLP.Guru pay a $15 monthly fee and agencies can provide live chat

and phone support via the system for their clients. Sign-up is simple and a dedicated

HLP team makes onboarding a snap, with most agencies live on the system within

24 hours.

Reduced Pricing Spurs Increased HLP.Guru Use

navigate to hlp.org/GuruRegister

select your preferredservice options

within 24 hours we will connect to complete your registration and get you started

Are you seeing more people seeking help to buy a home?

Yes. We work with prospective home buyers in Baltimore,

Washington, Prince George’s County, Maryland, northern

Virginia and Atlanta. We have more than 400 people in our

home buying pipeline, approximately triple the number

compared to a year ago. These individuals will work with

our five homeownership advisors which provide pre-

purchase counseling. Our goal is to get each person

“mortgage ready” and to closing.

As one of Freddie Mac’s Borrower Help Centers, how will HLP’s new communications platform improve your ability to help consumers?

HLP will enable us to transmit complete home buying

packages with an application and all loan documents di-

rectly to the lenders. This will expedite the process and

create efficiencies. It will simplify our communications and

data transmission—it’s a tremendous advantage. Another

critical benefit is electronic connectivity to lenders. HLP will

give us lender guidelines on loan originations.

How can counseling agencies help expand homeownership?

There’s an enormous opportunity for mortgage compa-

nies and counseling agencies to work closer together to

increase homeownership. Fee-for-service programs are

a good example. We have those in place with Bank of

America for potential homebuyers and with Wells Fargo to

help prevent foreclosures. Each program helps us identify

customers and work closely with the mortgage company

to submit documents on the customer’s behalf.

What trends do you see in the agencies that are part of your network?

Our affiliate network consists of 68 multicultural organiza-

tions that are diversifying by working issues such as stu-

dent loans, small business lending and reverse mortgages.

These agencies have several needs, including funding, ac-

cess to technology and marketing. Once funding from the

National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) ends,

it will be difficult for them to help homeowners. On the

technology front, HLP’s communications technology as

part of the Borrower Help Centers will help them become

more efficient, saving time and money.

How can you be successful in the future?

Preparing people to become sustainable homeowners.

Our focus is on education, outreach, production and per-

formance. We are dedicated to helping all prospective

homeowners be approved for a mortgage with no denials.

We also want to increase our mortgage partnerships. At

our 2016 annual conference in Detroit in September, we’ll

meet with several industry leaders about a variety of home-

ownership issues. They will learn more about what we do

and we will benefit from their vast industry knowledge.

Marcia Griffin is founder and president of HomeFree-USA,

a HUD-approved homeownership development, foreclosure

intervention and financial coaching organization based

throughout Maryland.

HLP’s June survey of nonprofit counselors found that counseling agencies nationwide face

similar challenges in helping individuals and families achieve their dream of homeownership.

Nearly two-thirds of the nation’s nonprofit housing counseling agencies said they need help

in marketing and publicizing their services to potential home buyers. In response to the

question, “Which of the following ser vices would most help your agency?” 62 percent of

the agencies response was “easier ways to help potential home buyers find me.” The

counseling agencies’ technology is also a significant problem, with 45 percent stating they

need a better way to manage their caseloads.

The survey also asked the agencies to list the leading challenges facing their clients that

want to buy a home. Their top responses:

• 76 percent cited low credit scores as the leading issue;

• 71 percent identified insufficient cash to meet down payment and/or

closing costs requirements;

• 64 percent cited client’s lack of knowledge about the home buying process; and

• 50 percent need information on down payment assistance programs available

in their cities, counties and states.

HLP has a history of building innovative solutions and “HLP.Guru is our latest effort, designed

to solve many of the home buying challenges faced by families and counselors” said Mark

Cole, Executive Vice President for HLP. “We encourage agencies to schedule a demo and

learn more about how we can support your efforts to increase homeownership.”

Counselors Face Many Challenges Helping Prospective Homeowners

Biggest Challenges Facing Prospective Homeowners

low credit score lack of knowledge aboutthe home buying process

2016 SURVEY RESULTS

76% 64%insufficient resources to meet down

payment or closing requirements

71%

mark.cole@hlp.org | 202.803.7933 | 100 International Drive | 23rd Floor | Baltimore, Maryland 21202

MReport Highlights Melchiorre, HLP

HLP Chief Executive Officer Cam Melchiorre was one of several promi-

nent housing industry leaders featured in the June issue of The MReport.

Focusing on how leaders in the private and public sectors of the mortgage

industry can expand homeownership, the magazine also interviewed

Danny Gardner, Freddie Mac’s vice president of Single Family Affordable

Lending and Access to Credit, and Marietta Rodriguez, vice president of

homeownership products for NeighborWorks America.

Flip to page 18 to read “Owning Up” in the magazine’s June issue:

http://digital.themreport.com/i/687963-june2016-chase-ing-the-

dream?hubItemID=261416862

HLP will be the preferred channel for the nation’s fifth

largest bank for the submission, review and disposi-

tion of foreclosure alternative packages, including doc-

uments and communications for the various state fore-

closure mediation processes. In, addition, US Bank will

give consumers the option of submitting documents

and communicating via HLP’s national consumer-di-

rect portal, Homeownerconnect. This site may be ac-

cessed at homeownerconnect.org.

“We are pleased to participate in the HLP collabora-

tive platform as we continue to improve the experience

of consumers and their authorized representatives

seeking foreclosure relief, particularly the thousands of

HUD-certified nonprofit counselors already using HLP

to interact with the mortgage servicing industry,” said

Scott Rodeman, senior vice president of Mortgage

Servicing Default Operations at US Bank.

“The mortgage foreclosure crisis established HLP as a

national communication utility for communications and

document exchange in the loss mitigation process,”

said Cam Melchiorre, HLP’s chief executive officer.

“Yet, despite a normalizing market and major improve-

ments in default frequency and severity, its attributes

of supporting transparency, accessibility, efficiency,

security, traceability, inclusiveness and regulatory com-

pliance resonate with all constituents in the residential

mortgage finance industry.”

…US Bank –continued from page 1