Cruising Through Change: Delivering Tech Modern Servicers and Homeowners Need

This year’s Annual Ignite Customer Conference brought together Sagent experts, industry partners, customers, vendors, and more to have the conversations pushing the servicing industry forward. As the housing market remains in a constant state of change, the “Cruising Through Change” panel hosted industry leaders to talk about the current state of the industry, and how organizations must equip themselves to thrive.  

The panel featured Sagent customers who understand firsthand how its industry-first mortgage servicing software platform, Dara, is revolutionizing the servicing industry, including: 

• Chris Wittrig, SVP, CIO, Land Home Financial Services 

• Scott Rodeman, VP, Servicing & Customer Care, Evergreen Home Loans 

• David Sheeler, Senior EVP & President, Residential Servicing, Freedom Mortgage 

• Seth Sprague, Director, Mortgage Banking Consulting Services, Richey May 

Prioritizing Customer Engagement to Avoid Delinquency 

Panelists kicked off the discussion by talking through where mortgage servicing stands today. Seth set the table early: changes from the external environment are having direct impacts on servicers and borrowers.  

With a shifting economy, homeowners and servicers are both navigating changes in loss mitigation. Panelists explained that they’re working to proactively and effectively engage customers to identify ways to avoid delinquency. Dave explained: 

“We’re trying to engage and inform customers that  there are other options to staying in your home.” 

For homeowners who unfortunately may face delinquency, Dara helps ensure the process is fully unified from end-to-end, allowing borrowers to report life changes instantly through a simplified mobile process. Servicers can easily access all relevant documents and information through Dara, streamlining the secure and accurate handling of necessary documents and procedures.  

A Modern Experience for a Modern Customer 

The panelists went on to discuss how advanced technology and platforms like Dara are overhauling the modern servicing process. Dara’s AI capabilities are reducing labor burdens and enhancing operational efficiency for servicers and their organizations, without eliminating the human touch that many customers expect.  

This approach enables lenders and servicers to recapture existing borrowers through long-term relationships. The panelists shared. 

“And I think Sagent has really given us some great tools, especially with Dara. We’re excited about that, but I also think we’re going to be using AI to help equip our humans… [so we] are caring for those relationships, to really create that that trust and a customer for life relationship.” – Scott Rodeman, VP, Servicing & Customer Care, Evergreen Home Loans 

“Servicing has to now carry the experience… if you really gave [borrowers] the helping hand and you treat them with respect, then recapture is a servicing outcome at that point. It’s about the experience.” – Chris Wittrig, SVP, CIO, Land Home Financial Services 

The panelists also examined how AI may affect their compliance processes. When Monika asked if panelists believe that AI might pose a compliance risk, they answered on the inverse – AI is helping their organizations remain compliant. Dara has compliance built into every line of its code, meaning that servicers can implement new rules and regulations immediately as they’re announced.  

Entering a New Chapter of Servicing 

The panelists left attendees with their outlook on the future of servicing: the only constant is change. Panelists noted servicing has received more attention over the last few years than it has in decades, and Sagent is at the forefront of delivering modern, streamlined technology to power America’s lenders, servicers, and borrowers. Scott explained: 

“[Change] is only speeding up. We learned from the crisis what it’s like to not have great controls and compliance. We learned from the refi boom what it’s like to not have great scalable technology. Now we’re learning that relationship-driven, people-first AI is the path. You have to build a servicing platform for all scenarios.” 

As customers begin to adopt Dara, the next era of cloud-based, people-first mortgage servicing is just getting started.