In February we announced the 2020 winners of our Servicer Honors and Rewards Program (SHARP)SM – nine Servicers with top servicing portfolio performance. The only returning SHARP award winner from last year was AmeriHome Mortgage, LLC, a company that takes pride in being customer centric. They demonstrated this quality and more as they overcame last year’s challenges.   

“Our Servicers’ dedication to assisting borrowers with mortgage relief options over the past year has helped hundreds of thousands of families keep their homes during the pandemic,” said Bill Maguire, Freddie Mac vice president of Servicing Portfolio Management in a press release. “This is particularly commendable as the pandemic continues to weigh heavily on so many Americans.”

We talked with two leaders at AmeriHome to get the inside track on their pillars for success and how they overcame the challenges of the pandemic to achieve superior servicing – which earned them two SHARP awards back-to-back.

Evolving with the market

Being a SHARP award winner means having strong servicing practices that withstand economic cycles. When asked about the challenges that AmeriHome had to overcome during the pandemic and what the company may have done differently, AmeriHome leaders told us they had to learn, adopt and implement rapid changes related to pandemic relief measures. Tasks like website changes and borrower communications quickly became daily occurrences that required many hours of planning and coordination to ensure there were no missteps. Even AmeriHome’s sub-servicers were faced with system enhancements and other changes in response to the requirements of the CARES Act and the new Payment Deferral solution.

Leveraging technology and partnership

Technology has been a major factor in being able to handle the impacts brought on by COVID-19. Servicers like AmeriHome are embracing technology more than ever to amplify their servicing practices.

Freddie Mac’s Servicer Performance Profile provides a transparent view into how a Servicer’s portfolio is performing, helping them make data-driven operational decisions. We asked AmeriHome how the Servicer Performance Profile helped the company rise above challenges and maintain its award-winning status:

 “Peer rankings and the synthetic data have been really useful for providing feedback on areas of strength and possible opportunities for improvement,” said Gubran.

When it comes to success, it’s important to recognize the many partners that support Servicers. Partnerships mean a lot to AmeriHome, as it touts its candid and collaborative relationship with its Freddie Mac servicing account manager. “We openly share information and reporting, and our representative points us in the right direction when needed,” says Gubran.

Keeping up the momentum to stay SHARP

Nothing keeps AmeriHome going like its dedication to borrowers and empowering staff to provide top-notch service. When asked about a servicing practice that it was proud of, AmeriHome mentioned the call transfer practice for borrowers seeking information.

When it comes to their motivation for winning a SHARP award, AmeriHome emphasizes its dedication to providing an excellent borrower experience coupled with compassionate loss mitigation solutions to resolve loan delinquencies when possible.

“Winning a SHARP award now for two consecutive years confirms our execution on that strategy and fuels our drive and desire to continue to perform at high levels,” said Varnen.