LERETA Blog
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. This month, get to know Gina Dominguez, our Tax Contract Maintenance / Conversion Supervisor! What is [...]
By Jessica Longman, VP, Operational Tax Manager While most people think about Independence Day, family vacations and cook-outs during July, LERETA is already planning for Q4 success when half of all property tax payments [...]
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. Meet Denise Amiri our Contracts Administrator. Get to know Denise below! What is your role with [...]
By Mike Whiting, Senior Vice President, Dallas Tax Operations If there’s one topic that’s dominating conversations in the mortgage industry, it’s artificial intelligence — how should AI be used; what are the underwriting ramifications [...]
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. This month we're highlighting Venkata Sai Naga Sandeep Kumar Somisetty, Lead Software Engineer. Get to know Sandeep below! [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including [...]
By Mike Ponce, Vice President, Data Services Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are a critical component in most business relationships, because they are an easy way to measure performance. In the mortgage servicing industry, and [...]
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. This month get to know Sheila Armstrong, our First Vice President / IT Strategic Analyst. Get to know Sheila, [...]
By Brian Carmody, Director of Marketing & Communications Without sounding like Chicken Little (“The sky is falling!”), an escrow storm is brewing. The combination of dramatic increases in homeowners and flood insurance premiums and [...]
By Jonnine Eras , SVP, Senior Tax Operations Manager It’s easy to judge call centers by the customer experience they are often associated with delivering — excessive wait times, bouncing callers to different agents [...]
By Pat Hedges , SVP, Senior Tax Operations Manager When it comes to taxes, paying the right amount is important, but so is paying on time, as anyone who’s missed a tax deadline and [...]
By Jim McGurer, SVP Operations By law, servicers are required to conduct escrow analyses (EAs) on most first mortgage accounts every year. The timing of when these analyses are done and when the statements [...]
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. This month get to know Warren May, our Senior Data Conversion Programmer. Get to know Warren, below! [...]
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. This month let us introduce you to Sandra Clemens, our Tax Specialist III. Get to know Sandra, below! [...]
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. This month let us introduce you to Kim Doyel, our Key Client Success Manager. Get to know Kim, below! [...]
By Alfred James, VP, Operations Manager -- Special Services, DTO Quality Auditing & DTO Non-Escrow Servicing When it comes to housing, America has two fairly large challenges. The first is a lack of inventory: [...]
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. This month let us introduce you to Victoria Safranek, our Outsourcing Disbursement Lead. Get to know Victoria, below! [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including [...]
In this season of celebrating the joy of giving, LERETA is proud to partner with Operation Homefront to give back to military families who’ve sacrificed so much to ensure our freedoms. The LERETA Tax [...]
By Mike Whiting, SVP, Senior Tax Operations Manager In part one of this two-part blog, my colleague, Jonnine Eras, examined some of the forces that are converging to create a [...]
A Q&A with Douglas Dick, Vice President, Escrow Manager Q. Several years ago, you coined the term "The Cheesehead Challenge" in describing tax processing in Wisconsin? What is it about Wisconsin taxes that make them [...]
A Q&A with Aaron Anderson, Director of Business Development, American Property Guard, a LERETA Company Q. Aaron let’s start off with the basics. What is Senate Bill 2? This past August, Governor Greg Abbott [...]
Every month, we'll be spotlighting someone from the LERETA roster. This month we're kicking it off with Heather Amick one of our Senior Client Success Managers. Get to know Heather, [...]
By Jonnine Eras, SVP, Senior Tax Operations Manager Unexpected increases in escrow accounts are one of the major reasons why borrowers contact servicer call centers. Resolving these calls often take time and require a fair [...]
If you’ve been with your real estate tax service vendor for a while, switching vendors is likely not top of mind. However, there are times when it makes sense to evaluate your current services and [...]
By Elly Leonida, FVP Operations Manager Floods are the most common natural disaster in the U.S. In fact, 90% of all natural disasters involve some type of flooding. As a result, floods cause more [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including details [...]
By Jim Micali, COO Wise Ben Franklin said, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” If good ole Ben were alive today, he might amend that and say, “Nothing is certain except death, taxes, [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including [...]
The sharp slowdown in new originations has resulted in significant downsizing for many lenders, with reductions occurring across the organization, including servicing as well as loan origination. But as executives look at the forecast [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including details [...]
By Tiffany Keohane, Client Implementation Manager & Susan Portnoy, SVP Product and Enterprise Operations It may sound like a “stretch,” but some of the basic principles of yoga offer a [...]
By Pat Hedges, SVP Senior Tax Operations Manager Typically, it’s not property taxes – which are most often escrowed and included with monthly mortgage payments – that pose the biggest [...]
By Jonnine Eras, Senior Vice President, Senior Tax Operations Manager Tax assessments lag home price appreciation (HPA), but eventually they result in tax hikes, unpleasant surprises for homeowners and [...]
By Kelly Hebert, First Vice President, Sales Operations & Marketing How many times have you heard the phrase, “We have great customer service?” What does this mean exactly? Is there [...]
By Mike Whiting, Senior Vice President As baby boomers age – with an increasing number saying they want to age at home – and home appreciation continues to bolster [...]
By Elly Leonida, FVP Operations Manager Over the last decade, mortgage lenders have seen dramatic changes in how loans are approved, processed and closed with technology and automation improving [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including details [...]
Most servicers understand the benefits of a standard tax service as well as a fully outsourced solution. But many are less familiar with LERETA’s Total Tax Solutions® (TTS®), which [...]
By Tiffany Keohane, & Jonnine Eras We often hear that our clients postpone bringing on new vendors because they’re uncomfortable with the implementation process. They would rather put up with [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including details [...]
By Jim McGurer, Senior Vice President, Operations For the past few years, real estate prices (and home appreciation) have been on a tear. In 2020, the average U.S. home price increased by 10.2%, and [...]
By Kim Doyel, Senior Client Executive During my 19 years in mortgage servicing, I’ve experienced everything you can imagine good (and not so good) when it comes to managing taxes on both in-house or [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including details [...]
By Michael Whiting, Senior Vice President, Dallas Tax Operations Every year, in-house tax groups and tax service companies grind well into the holiday season with late shifts and weekend hours to get all applicable [...]
By Priscilla Anand, Vice President / GIS Technical Manager Mapping Tool Helps Protects Servicers and Homeowners Alike If you’ve read any of our previous blogs, you’ve probably picked up on a common theme: tax servicers [...]
Legislative Updates By Staci Hardy, VP Internal Audit & QC Manager LERETA's compliance team regularly monitors and tracks statewide property tax legislation that impacts tax service for our customers. This quarter we are including details [...]
By Shelley Lucas Vice President Tax Operations LERETA Hard to Identify Lower Liens Can Cause Loss of First Lien Position and Collateral Risk Today, it’s hard enough for servicers and [...]
By Heather Amick, Senior Client Executive, LERETA Approximately 22 million Americans live in manufactured homes today, and that number is expected to grow as the price of a site-built home becomes less affordable [...]