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October 2015

Take 5

Danny Gardner provides insight into

Freddie Mac’s affordable lending.

Page 2

NeighborWorks Highlights HLP Value

Agency notes contributions in

NFMC report to Congress.

Page 3

In 2014, Freddie Mac financed

housing for almost 1.7 million families,

including 1.2 million single-family,

owner-occupied units.

Partnerships Grow, New Mortgage Companies Join HLP

As we head into 2015’s home stretch, HLP is busy forging new partnerships on a variety

of fronts. HLP continues to enroll new mortgage companies and counselors, while ex-

panding use with its existing partners. HLP is also broadening its reach to include new

organizations, such as state housing agencies and bankruptcy attorneys, who work with

distressed homeowners.

“Our expanded technology platform gives us the capability to provide more products,

from origination to servicing,” says Cam Melchiorre, HLP’s chief executive officer. “As

a result, we are now providing a full array of services to meet the needs of a variety of

groups in the housing industry.”

New Platform for Originations HLP will make a major announcement in November regarding our new platform that

helps families achieve homeownership and this month’s Take 5 features Danny Gardner

of Freddie Mac highlighting the importance of homeownership and affordable lending.

Here is a recap of recent partnerships reached with several organizations and others in

the works:

Mortgage Servicers Join, Others Expand UseNew servicers include Ditech Mortgage (formerly Green Tree Servicing) and EverBank.

SPS added our Homeowner Connect portal to work directly with borrowers seeking

assistance. Bank of America renewed its master agreement with HLP for another three

years. Wells Fargo expanded its use of HLP to support counselors working with its bor-

rowers in some targeted programs, improving the exchange of information and adding

new ways to measure effectiveness.

Our Counseling Agencies Grow, ExpandThe Homeownership Preservation Foundation, the nation’s largest nonprofit coun seling

organization, recently started use of HLP for all cases referred to Fannie Mae’s Mortgage

Help Network. Clarifi completed an automated data exchange project between HLP and

their case management system, saving thousands of dollars each month and also en-

abling participation in fee-for-ser vice programs operated by Fannie Mae and Wells Fargo.

What is needed to responsibly increase access to credit for low/moderate income families?

Today, it is about education: Education for the borrower,

the loan officers, the real estate professional, the housing

counselor; everyone involved in the homebuying process.

Education may be more critical today because the home-

buying and lending process has become very complex.

Before making a decision, borrowers should understand

their alternatives and the trade-offs they may have to make

to get an affordable mortgage

What are your top three priorities for the coming year?

My top priority is to responsibly expand the availability of

affordable credit to people who want to buy homes. We

have several short- and long-term projects underway that

will open the credit door for potential borrowers. My next

goal is for Freddie Mac to be a catalyst to drive compre-

hensive support for aspirational homeowners in a simple,

logical and transparent process where all participants are

engaged to act in the borrower’s best interest towards a

singular goal. My third priority is to succeed in achieving

my first two priorities and make Freddie Mac synonymous

with affordable lending.

Credit is still constrained. What steps should lenders take to increase affordable lending?

It’s time to eliminate obsolete overlays and take full advan-

tage of our expanded credit box, including our 97% LTV

HomePossible Advantage mortgage, and our framework

for representation and warranty relief. The combination of

expanded credit and shorter, narrower liability is a sound

formula for confidently taking on more business.

My other goal is to develop closer two-way relationships

with counseling agencies who know how to turn people

who dream about owning a home into qualified borrowers

who can actually buy one they can afford. For example,

in my previous positions, we would refer borrowers who

were “near misses” to counseling agencies to identify and

whenever possible remove the credit obstacle that was

holding them back.

How can counselors help new borrowers sustain homeownership?

Housing counselors play a pivotal role by identifying and

developing new borrowers in their communities. Our re-

search has shown pre-purchase counseling can reduce

default risk by as much as a third. We are looking at dif-

ferent ways to bring lenders and counseling agencies to-

gether so more families can acquire the knowledge and the

capability to become successful long-term homeowners.

How has your view of Freddie Mac changed since you joined the organization?

I took a leap of faith to come here and have been amazed

by a collegial culture that has a will to win. Freddie Mac is

intensely focused on serving our customers and their com-

munity partners. My goal is to focus that energy to give our

lender and their community partners the capacity to grow

their businesses successfully. I also think we can all agree

that in our business success means putting more qualified

families into homes they can call their own for as long as

they want.

Danny Gardner joined Freddie Mac in March as the company’s

Single Family Vice President of Affordable Lending and Access

to Credit. He is responsible for increasing the availability of afford-

able mortgage credit for low and moderate income borrowers

and underserved communities. Below, Gardner provides insight

into Freddie’s affordable lending activities

NeighborWorks Report to Congress

Report Shines Light on HLP

Several favorable statements about the

value and importance of HLP have been

filed by NeighborWorks America as part

of the organization’s recent annual report

to Congress on the National Foreclosure

Mitigation Counseling (NFMC) program.

HLP has been the technology provider for

housing programs funded by the federal

government and overseen by Neighbor-

Works.

Here are some excerpts of the state-

ments made by NeighborWorks in the

report:

Page 1 –“…The use of Hope LoanPort to

streamline the loan modification submis-

sion process with servicers is considered

an efficient method by many grantees.”

Page 8 – “…Utilizing Hope LoanPort, a

web-based platform that allows housing

counselors to submit complete modifica-

tion packages, has helped improve effi-

ciency according to Grantees.”

Page 9 – “…Grantees also report that

utilizing Hope LoanPort, a technology-

based communications platform between

counselors and servicers, has helped

improve communication.”

“We are pleased to be recognized by

Neighborworks and proud to be able to

provide homeowners, counseling agen-

cies and others with a valuable service,”

said Cam Melchiorre, HLP’s CEO.“

For most people, buying a home is the

single largest financial transaction of

their lives—and the most complicated.

Many consumers feel they have an

inadequate understanding and little

control over most aspects of this pro-

cess, leaving them dependent on

others (e.g. lenders, realtors, title

companies) to get a loan, negotiate a

price, handle their closing and make

other critical decisions.

As a nonprofit organization dedicated to

helping people buy and sustain home-

ownership, HLP has been working on

a solution that will give homeowners

more control over the process, particu-

larly low- and moderate-income families

and others seeking affordable housing.

Much like Uber has changed transpor-

tation, we believe that simplifying the

process and connecting people to trust-

ed resources and advice via an app and

a few clicks can do the same for millions

of prospective home owners. In our No-

vember issue, we will announce more

details about this new platform, as well

as the bene fits for mortgage lenders

and housing counseling agencies.

An Uber for the Mortgage Industry?

Coming Next MonthCredit remains tight and many potential new homebuyers are regularly turned down

for new mortgage loans. Working closely with mortgage originators and counseling

agencies, HLP will announce a new service that will help these prospective home-

buyers qualify for a mortgage loan and bring open up a new source of customers for

mortgage companies.

mark.cole@hlp.org | 410.942.6464 x1021 | 100 International Drive | 23rd Floor | Baltimore, Maryland 21202

States Look to Help Homeowners HLP is working with several state housing agencies to provide technology solutions

that will improve service to homeowners and make the agencies more productive.

These states are exploring the use of HLP’s technology platform for use in a variety of

homeowner assistance programs, including down payment assistance, loan servic-

ing and foreclosure mediation.

Helping Attorneys Get Faster DecisionsHLP continues to expand its reach to bank ruptcy attorneys, recently exhibiting at two

national conferences. We are also working with state courts to offer a bankruptcy

mediation platform service to find non-judicial foreclosure solutions and expedite the

bankruptcy process. More than 600 attorneys are now enrolled in HLP.

We would love to add your organization to this list! Contact us at mark.cole@hlp.org

for more information.

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