Gateway Mortgage Group has announced that it has developed an in-house subservicing unit focused on the specialty and default servicing of Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans, and has hired Kevin Osuna to direct the new operation as vice president of default services.
Due to more stringent government loan requirements and increased oversight by regulators, small servicers have experienced problems with traditional subservicers, such as high delinquency ratios under Ginnie Mae, high FHA curtailments, low loss mitigation workout ratios and challenges with conveying properties to FHA.
Gateway’s new division was created to provide small servicers and community institutions with high-touch expertise in specialty and default servicing for FHA and VA loans. The subservicing unit reduces risk for servicers working with government loans and provides a viable servicing solution for community institutions that allows them to retain their customer relationships.
“In 2008, Gateway decided to retain our servicing in house to keep the entire lending relationship from origination through servicing under our roof to ensure quality service for our borrowers,” said Kevin Stitt, president of Gateway Mortgage Group. “We now want to use our experience to provide smaller companies with an alternative to traditional subservicers, offering the expertise and performance of a large organization with the personal care of a smaller institution.”
In his role as VP of default services, Osuna will be responsible for enhancing and expanding Gateway’s default management division. Prior to joining Gateway, Osuna spent 15 years in the default management department of a top five FHA servicer. He has managed each of the functions within default management, most recently overseeing collection and loss mitigation strategies while serving as senior vice president of default and credit risk management.
“In speaking to various industry participants, it became clear that traditional subservicers and small community banks were struggling with FHA default servicing requirements,” said Osuna. “Gateway has the knowledge and proven processes to remove this burden from small servicers and mitigate the risks, such as findings and penalties on FHA claims or audits. I am happy to lead Gateway’s Default Services Division and look forward to the impact it will have on the market.”
