The offshoring of mortgage servicing caught the attention of ratings giants in recent years. Inevitable questions surfaced such as do the firms maintain quality control? Do communications barriers hinder discussions with troubled borrowers?
Despite market analysts citing these concerns in the past, Morningstar Credit Ratings affirmed its current residential vendor rating for Ocwen’s India servicing operations— Ocwen Financial Solutions Pvt. Ltd – on Monday.
The affirmation of the firm’s rating and the overall stable outlook is attributed to effective management from overseas, quality training programs, and the inclusion of a highly educated workforce.
Morningstar made several visits to Ocwen’s servicing platforms in Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune over a 14-month period to reach these conclusions about the servicer's India operations.
One of Ocwen's key successes stems from a structure in which the India team reports directly to U.S. executive management.
"A corporate focus on internal advancement and management rotation and exchange programs between the company’s offshore and domestic operations has created a strong management team in India and has served to minimize turnover," Morningstar analyst Richard Koch added.
The India locations also benefit from the hiring of college-educated talent — many of whom are well-versed in English and math and trained in voice and accent neutralization, Morningstar explained.
The India servicing operations also see the positive impact of effective call scripting, helpful feedback, refresher voice training, extensive instruction in U.S. mortgage operations and a quality assurance group and internal audit that ensures ongoing feedback and engagement between staff members and management.
By February, Ocwen serviced a portfolio of 2.8 million loans with an unpaid principal balance of $459 billion, making it the largest non-agency servicer in the U.S., Morningstar noted.
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