Wingspan Seeks to Help Turn Around Problem Portfolios.(Managing REO)

Byline: Ted Cornwell

Carrollton, TX-Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, Carrollton, Texas, a mortgage servicing specialist, has opened its doors to assist lenders and servicers plagued by seriously delinquent loans. The service is aimed not only at mitigating losses but also at helping borrowers achieve full payment status, making their loans "reperforming" assets.

The company is led by servicing veteran Steven Horne, a lawyer who formerly served as director of servicing risk strategy at Fannie Mae. Mr. Horne also spent nine years as a partner with Sherman Financial Group. At Sherman, he built a unit that purchased and resolved portfolios of delinquent mortgage loans. He also served as director of default servicing for Ocwen, where he provided outsourcing services to Freddie Mac.

Mr. Horne said the company's mission is to give servicers, investors and other stakeholders, such as mortgage insurance firms, a fighting chance to save loans that otherwise would have gone to foreclosure. Mr. Horne said there are few specialists with the tools needed to cure nonperforming loans, and so many times lenders give up on these loans, especially those with little or no equity position. Wingspan has created a methodology that relies on data and analytic metrics to establish scenarios that offer hope to investors and borrowers alike, Mr. Horne said. "Our team of highly experienced and dedicated specialists understand that the ultimate value of a nonperforming mortgage does not depend exclusively on collateral value, but also on the borrower's psychology," Mr. Horne said.

Traditional loss mitigation systems analyze "net present value" scenarios, creating an assumption that loans outside the loss mitigation model cannot be saved. But that ignores ...