Mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial Corporation convened more than 30 representatives of grassroots and national housing advocacy organizations in Washington D.C. to share success stories, new ideas, and insights related to preventing foreclosures and helping homeowners. The roundtable discussion, held on Monday, was geared, in part, to provide additional context for an expected report by a Congressional Oversight Panel on the effectiveness of foreclosure mitigation efforts. During the roundtable, which included remarks from human rights activist and author Kerry Kennedy, the community groups and Ocwen representatives agreed upon a number of imperatives and recommendations. They include: • Working closely with the Obama administration to arrive at more flexible guidelines so more distressed homeowners qualify for mortgage modifications under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). • Developing a national awareness and information campaign regarding HAMP to increase homeowner outreach. • Focusing more intensely on homeowners who are under-employed or unemployed and thus need state or federal assistance to qualify for mortgage modifications. • Greater collaboration between servicers and grassroots groups in providing real-time solutions for homeowners — including being more proactive about helping borrowers early on, before they face the prospect of foreclosure. • Increasing government budget allocations for community and grassroots organizations’ engagement in housing and financial counseling with homeowners — and streamlining the procedures for reimbursement for the effort. • Increasing the use of Web technology to reach out to homeowners and link them with community groups that can offer housing counseling and other supportive social services. • Combating consumer and fair housing violations and other scams perpetrated on borrowers by groups trying to lure distressed homeowners into illegal and damaging home foreclosure prevention programs.

The roundtable’s keynote speaker, Kerry Kennedy, founder of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, said, “The work of community organizations in the struggle to prevent foreclosures and help distressed homeowners is invaluable. The problem and the task are daunting, but many of the solutions and programs are working. We must sustain and intensify the effort — and continue to search for new and creative approaches.” Paul A. Koches, Ocwen’s EVP, also commented, “We’ve always been grateful for grassroots and housing advocacy groups’ commitment to helping individuals stay in their homes. It’s really a powerful thing when the objectives of the non-profit organizations align with ours, as we all work hard to help troubled homeowners, often through mortgage modifications.

Going to lengths to restructure mortgages and keep people in their homes is good for homeowners, investors, communities, our business, and the economy overall.” During the roundtable, Ocwen discussed some of the technologies and approaches it employs to help homeowners successfully avoid foreclosure. Since the onset of the mortgage crisis, Ocwen has saved over 90,000 homes from foreclosure, altering loans so distressed homeowners can afford them and so they perform for investors. Ocwen also demonstrated upcoming features on its Web site to roundtable attendees that are designed to put customers in touch with effective community groups that can help homeowners who are facing difficulties. Ricardo Byrd, executive director of the National Association of Neighborhoods, said, “Solving the mortgage crisis depends on joint efforts by government, community groups, servicers, and homeowners themselves. One way to turn up the volume on the effort is to brainstorm together and share ideas and insights into what works. One thing that we agreed should be done immediately is to step up the community outreach and awareness efforts around the government’s HAMP loan modification initiative — a national campaign is needed to bring more qualified homeowners in distress into this program.