Central Database and Analytics Helps Borrowers.

Dallas -- Hope Now, the nation's largest partnership of government, private and nonprofit entities, is proving this strategy is one of the most efficient ways to assist those who are suffering from the subprime mortgage crisis.

The reason, executives say, lies in the combined benefit of creating a centralized database with several layers of information and the ability to thoroughly analyze it so members can make informed decisions before taking action.

"Partnership is essential right now and that's exactly what Hope Now is - a unique partnership between private business and government entities," said Bob Caruso, Bank of America national servicing executive, at the SourceMedia Mortgage Servicing Conference here.

"It is all about creating an essential partnership ... and businesses working together can make changes happen quickly."

Mortgage servicers and the industry at large are concerned and keenly aware of the impact the current economic distress has on customers, he said.

So private involvement in the Hope Now alliance pulls from different areas counselors, servicers, investors and other mortgage market participants.

Hope Now members also partnered with Computer Sciences Corp. to develop a counseling portal to help nonprofit credit counselors reduce mortgage foreclosures, he said, creating a portal that functions as an extension to the consumer lending default management software used by many mortgage servicers.