Fannie Mae Launches Servicer 'Report Card' to Evaluate Foreclosure Avoidance

Fannie Mae has announced the Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards (STAR) Program, a new effort designed to measure and evaluate mortgage servicers' performance in supporting the housing recovery by helping homeowners avoid foreclosure. The STAR Program provides clear expectations and specific, consistent measurements to help Fannie Mae servicers increase focus on areas of critical importance to Fannie Mae. The program directly links servicer performance to homeowners the servicer has helped, and the customer's experience with their servicer. "We created the STAR Program to promote transparency, accountability and excellence in mortgage servicing and to recognize those which consistently deliver strong, customer-driven results," said Leslie Peeler, vice president of servicing portfolio management. "The efforts of servicers are critical to preventing foreclosures and providing homeowners assistance. By creating measurable expectations for our servicers aligned with Fannie Mae's business objectives, we hope to sharpen servicers' focus and encourage them to continue to work with us toward our shared priority: keeping people in their homes." A key component of the STAR Program is the Servicer Performance Scorecard, which provides monthly performance snapshots and trends for key performance indicators to help servicers effectively assess their progress. Top-ranked servicers will be eligible to receive incentive awards and recognition. Rankings of top performers will be made available to the public in an annual scorecard. "The STAR Program is an innovative approach in managing and evaluating servicers' performance, and we believe it will improve customer satisfaction and overall housing outcomes for struggling customers," said Jay Bray, executive vice president of Nationstar Mortgage. "We applaud Fannie Mae's efforts to develop a comprehensive assessment and rewards program." The STAR Program is part of Fannie Mae's ongoing efforts to hold servicers accountable, help homeowners and stabilize communities. Fannie Mae continues to conduct homeowner outreach across the country, which includes the opening of Mortgage Help Centers in Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Dallas/Fort Worth. The company also launched www.knowyouroptions.com and WaysHome, a free, interactive multimedia tool designed to educate homeowners about their options to avoid foreclosure, empower them to make informed decisions and motivate them to take action and seek help in 2011. For more information, visit www.fanniemae.com.