Bradley Partner Jonathan Kolodziej Quoted in Inside Mortgage Finance on COVID Relief Compliance Challenges to Expect in 2021

Bradley attorney Jonathan Kolodziej was quoted in Inside Mortgage Finance on the compliance challenges associated with COVID-19-related forbearance that will continue to plague mortgage servicers in 2021.

“It seems like everything compliance-related for servicers in 2021 is going to be COVID-related. Everyone is still working through COVID challenges with forbearance and deferrals,” said Kolodziej. “From the compliance perspective, getting the relief out to consumers as needed and doing it in a way that is compliant with federal and state obligations that are put in place are the biggest things.”

“In some instances, companies are also forced to develop their own position as to when the CARES Act ‘covered period’ for single-family forbearance ends, due to lack of clarity in the law itself,” said Kolodziej.

Servicers of privately held loans have more discretion to develop forbearance plans for borrowers. But it means servicers have to pay more attention to get every decision right.

“Fair servicing will become more important going forward,” Kolodziej said. “I would expect that it would be a higher focus for all of the regulators, including the CFPB under the Biden administration.”

The original article, "Servicers Still Facing COVID Relief Compliance Challenges," appeared in Inside Mortgage Finance on January 8, 2021.