We start the beginning of each year with a magazine issue that focuses on servicing, and this year is no different. But after the tumultuous year we experienced in 2020, servicing will now be more important than ever. 

Flashback to the Great Recession that began in 2008 and the devastation that followed, servicers were put in the hot seat as foreclosures swept across the U.S. Now, once again the spotlight is on mortgage servicers, but they are rising to the occasion. In fact, even Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria recognized the effort servicers were making to help borrowers in forbearance and thanked them. 

But their work is far from over. Last year, servicers faced challenges as record numbers of Americans requested forbearance and job losses mounted. Regulators such as the FHFA and others put mandatory forbearance programs in place that servicers had to navigate. But in the year ahead, servicers will face even more challenges as forbearance programs come to an end, and loss mitigation efforts begin. 

Servicers will face challenges such as scaling up, and knowing when it’s right to do so, navigating various forbearance exit trends and what technology to use and when. We cover all this and more in our cover story starting on page 26.