IRVINE, CA – July 18, 2005 – Jackson & Associates, a leading provider of post-foreclosure legal expertise to real estate owned (REO) industry, announced today that it has completed a second service release for its flagship Symphony web application. Among the enhancements are two REO industry firsts: a personal property module, designed to help control the risk surrounding the disposal of personal property that remains after an eviction is completed; and a comprehensive attorney grading module, which can reliably assess attorney performance on a broad spectrum of post-foreclosure legal matters.
The question of what needs to be done with personal property after a lockout is often a ‘grey area’ that can expose servicers to significant legal liability. “Servicers are being bitten by poor management of personal property after a lockout, either because of an overly aggressive third party, or simply because the information needed to make a good decision isn’t made available,” says Robert Jackson, President and Senior Managing Attorney. Symphony’s new personal property module distributes recommended approaches for the treatment of any personalty remaining after an eviction, based upon local laws, customs, practices, and general tenets of risk management. This module also makes it easy for local counsel to provide individualized advice tailored to specific case details. “By making the right information available and seamlessly distributable,” Jackson says, “everybody involved can get onto the same page, and some structure can finally be put around how personal property is to be managed at lockout.”
Similar to the challenges presented by personal property, assessing the performance of an attorney in a post-foreclosure legal action has also been an issue the industry has long wrestled with. “For years, we’ve had to make do with simple timelines that really only apply when a case is uncontested, is an eviction, and isn’t impacted by outside delay. The majority of cases in post-foreclosure legal work simply don’t fit this narrow description, however, making it difficult for servicers to get an accurate picture of an attorney’s overall performance,” Jackson said. “Symphony’s attorney grading module is the first to assess different layers of performance that cover a broad range of matters associated with post-foreclosure legal process, including contested files, post-vesting bankruptcies, and even related litigation.”
The entire service release contains numerous other improvements to existing Symphony modules as well as to the platform’s user interface, removing certain character entry restrictions and making information more viewable and easily accessible to the end user. Many of the improvements were based upon specific suggestions provided in the 2005 Symphony User Survey, an annual satisfaction study the firm runs among brokers, attorneys, and clients who use the platform nationwide.
About Symphony
Symphony is a web-based platform for occupied REO that goes beyond case management and offers more than the standard eviction tracking functionality found in most default systems. It provides event management, workflow automation, quality assurance, and auditing capabilities that uniquely leverage Jackson & Associates' extensive background in post-foreclosure law. Designed to work either independently of or in conjunction with existing default technology, clients who retain Jackson & Associates to manage their post-foreclosure legal matters nationwide are able to use Symphony to manage every aspect of occupied asset recovery – starting from initial assignment all the way through to vacancy.
Symphony’s users recently rated it among the best technology in the default industry, and the platform is available to clients of Jackson & Associates who have executed a service agreement with the firm. More information about Symphony’s features and capabilities is available at http://www.jandalegal.com/symphony.
About Jackson & Associates
Jackson and Associates, Inc. is a professional law corporation with associated co-counsel in every State of the Union, and focuses on providing post-foreclosure legal services and nationwide legal process management to clients in the REO industry. With over 12 years of experience representing a wide range of default servicers and REO management organizations, Jackson & Associates has helped its clients recover more than 52,000 occupied assets nationwide. The firm is located on the web at: http://www.jandalegal.com.
# # #