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 Grants program provides homeownership assistance to military veterans with one-time grants that pay their annual property taxes. The initiative is [...]

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 perfect storm for borrowers with escrow accounts and their servicers. These trends include dramatic increases in homeowners and flood insurance [...]

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 so complicated? Some things are just different in Wisconsin.  Take the Green Bay Packers, for example.  All other National Football [...]

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 of Texas signed legislation delivering the largest property tax rebate in Texas history due to a surplus in funding at [...]

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, below!  What is your role with LERETA? I foster outstanding relationships with my clients and help them navigate the complexities [...]

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 amount of explaining to help homeowners understand why their monthly payment is going up. Over the next few years, however, [...]

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 explore other available options. Here are some signs that it might be time to switch. How quick is [...]

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 property damage and loss of life than any other natural hazard. And yet, American homeowners are typically confused when it [...]

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, and the fact that a significant percentage of property taxes will be due at the end of each year, creating [...]

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 for lower volumes of new loans coming in the door, they also need to consider how much servicing volume was [...]

  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 surprisingly relevant checklist of best practices to look for when assessing a tax servicer – practices that will pay off [...]

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 headaches for lenders and servicers, but rather special-lien tax assessments that can be hard to identify and even harder to [...]

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 more work for servicers. Given the dramatic gains in HPA over the last two years, larger tax bills for many [...]