You’d think that these would be boon times for servicers, which is only partly true. Flooded by a historic influx of work and often a lack of resources to manage it, servicing managers have never been busier or had less time on their hands. Which means, oddly enough, that fewer servicing executives have time this year to attend industry conferences — especially those of a niche variety. And, even if time weren’t a factor, budgets are; with political and legal eyes zeroed in on servicers’ activities like never before, a lush travel budget isn’t something most servicing shops can afford to foot the bill for these days. We’ve heard from our sources in the industry that various trade shows this year have seen fewer servicing employees attend, for just these reasons; servicing managers we’ve spoken to have said their lack of attendance is not an indication of a lack of interest, but a reflection of market conditions. “It doesn’t send the right message if I’m out at conferences rather than actively managing our loss mitigation efforts,” said one manager, who asked not to be named. One industry group is moving to address these concerns by offering all lender/servicer members complimentary registration for its upcoming fall conference. REOMAC, which bills itself as a mortgage default industry trade association despite an REO-centric moniker, said Tuesday the decision was made to help ensure that servicers would be able to attend the show. The group’s conference will feature an address from economist Christopher Thornberg at Beacon Economics; he has consistently been among the most bearish of economists not named Nouriel Roubini throughout the nation’s credit crisis. “Participation will be a true benefit to both default professionals and their companies,” said REOMAC president Shelley Kaye. “We are also very excited to offer REOMAC’s lender/servicer members complimentary registration.” The conference will be held in mid-October in Hollywood, Florida. For more information, visit http://www.reomac.com.

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