IRVINE, CA – August 2, 2005 – Jackson & Associates, Inc., a leading provider of post-foreclosure legal expertise to the real estate owned (REO) industry, today announced the introduction of an innovative legal service for servicers who outsource REO management to a third-party vendor. Called ‘embedded outsourcing,’ the new legal service involves employing an attorney to manage all legal process incident to occupied REO asset recovery – including evictions, post-vesting bankruptcies, and litigation – at no direct cost to the parent servicer. The term ‘embedded outsourcing’ refers to the fact that legal representation and management is ‘embedded’ into any outsourcing arrangements made on behalf of the servicer. Jackson & Associates is the first law firm in the country to offer this new legal service to the default servicing industry.
“Occupied assets drive REO loss severity, so it makes good business sense for any servicer that is putting REO in the hands of an outsourcer to consider having a qualified and independent attorney oversee all of their REO-related legal process,” says Robert Jackson, President and Senior Managing Attorney at the firm. “The idea is to establish a lawyer-client relationship that protects the best interests of the servicer in ways that a traditional vendor relationship cannot.”
An outsourcer’s staff typically lacks the legal training and legal acumen required to manage files that vary from standard uncontested norms – a limitation that ends up costing servicers valuable time lost and money spent. “Charging a non-attorney with responsibility for managing a legal matter is a little bit like asking a nurse to manage the surgeon,” Jackson says. “I don’t think there is a servicer in the nation that, all else being equal, is really comfortable with that arrangement.”
According to Jackson, embedded outsourcing is an attractive option for default servicing operations because it entails no direct cost to the servicer at all. “Very rarely will legal work be free, but in this instance, embedded outsourcing comes pretty close,” he says. Because the costs of legal representation are paid for by the outsourcer, the default servicer incurs no cost; in turn, outsourcers are able to shift organizational resources away from managing legal matters, making it unnecessary for them to train and staff for what is traditionally one of the more costly and labor-intensive functions for any REO department. “The idea behind embedded outsourcing is to establish a win-win-win approach between our law firm, default servicers, and REO outsourcers,” Jackson says.
Jackson & Associates’ industry-leading Symphony platform for occupied REO management provides seamless support for embedded outsourcing through a single, unified web-based application that spans multiple vendors. Using Symphony, clients can centralize the management of their occupied REO assets, easily integrating cash for keys and vacancy reporting into ongoing legal matters managed by Jackson & Associates. Available enterprise application integration capabilities mean that Symphony can work with existing legacy systems to enhance the workflow and productivity of both the servicer and any REO outsourcers they contract with.
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.
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.
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