IRVINE, CA – September 29, 2006 – Jackson & Associates, Inc., a leading provider of post-foreclosure legal expertise to the real estate owned (REO) industry, announced today that the Symphony web application recently added its 2,000th user to the system. Symphony users include co-counsel associated with the firm nationwide, clients of the firm, as well as brokers assigned by those clients.
"The growth we've seen in the Symphony user base is a testament to Symphony's ability to streamline the management of the processes associated with occupied REO, and also to just how innovative and ground-breaking the platform truly is," said Robert Jackson, President and Senior Managing Attorney. "And, we are pleased to have reached this milestone while maintaining a consistent user experience, in terms of both uptime and performance, despite the growth in usage."
With foreclosures on the rise and REO inventories increasing, Jackson expects Symphony will continue to help servicers in their quest to lower loss severity. "Occupied REO is one of the largest drivers of loss severity once a defaulted asset hits the REO department, especially in the non-prime market," said Jackson, adding that as much as 40% of an REO portfolio may be occupied. An occupied REO asset exhibits unique factors that exert upward pressure on loss severity, and Symphony is designed to address those factors using a patent-pending process model. "With an occupied REO property, servicers are faced with issues that just don't exist when properties are vacant – such as an eviction, cash for keys, additional legal risk tied to having a person in the home, the potential for negative PR risk, and the possibility for occupant-inflicted property damage."
Jackson also notes that the effectiveness with which Symphony manages the REO eviction process is one of the platform's biggest successes, as well as one of its largest attractions, because servicers have been able to leverage the system's industry-leading timeline performance to generate substantial carry cost savings. "Our data indicates that our clients experience approximately an eight-to-one return in terms of carry cost savings. That means for every dollar spent utilizing our firm and the Symphony platform, our clients have earned eight dollars in carry cost savings back. We believe our clients have been extremely receptive to that sort of value proposition."
The Symphony platform for occupied REO management is licensed exclusively to Jackson and Associates by OneDemand.com, Inc., is available at no charge to clients of the firm, and includes such industry firsts as an integrated personal property module, an integrated "cash for keys" module, and a comprehensive, multi-dimensional attorney grading module.
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 approximately 60,000 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 augment Jackson & Associates' extensive background in post-foreclosure law, and is licensed exclusively to Jackson & Associates by OneDemand.com, Inc. 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 have 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.
# # #