New LPS Offering Further Protects Military Personnel From Foreclosure

Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) has announced added functionality in its Military Service Personnel (MSP) loan servicing platform that will help servicers better track and manage loans belonging to military service members. LPS developed its Military Service Relief (MSR) functionality within MSP, which adds additional stop-gap measures to help servicers further identify and process protected loans with greater ease and confidence. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) prohibits mortgage servicers from foreclosing or seizing property from active-duty military personnel unable to meet their mortgage obligations. The protection from foreclosure lasts up to nine months after active duty has ended, and service members also qualify for interest rate limits and other shields under the law. "Due to the current mortgage environment, LPS saw a widespread need to add additional holds and stop-gap measures to help servicers identify loans belonging to our nation's military personnel," said LPS Chief Information Officer Joseph Nackashi. "The expanded functionality can capture and store information about a borrower's active duty status, while other unique identifiers detect SCRA-eligibility to ensure fees are not assessed or collected in error and that payoff interest is calculated using the correct SCRA rate limits." The MSR functionality delivers 30 more loan-level fields in MSP, the technology used to service approximately half of the nation's mortgage loans by dollar volume. With these expanded capabilities, servicers can better manage loans for active-duty military personnel. Future MSR enhancements will deliver greater functionality related to default and credit bureau reporting, as well as reconciliation of advances.