Letter: Mortgage lenders are overwhelmed

Regarding "Throw homeowners a lifeline" [Editorial, Oct. 16], our nation's large mortgage servicers have been overwhelmed by the volume of delinquent mortgage loans. They've hired scores of new people to try to meet the demand to restructure loans, but there are problems with the way they've gone about it.

The traditional mortgage-servicing model focuses on collecting and processing payments, with much of the direct customer contact done by less experienced clerical personnel. This doesn't lend itself to the more personalized and complex process of loss mitigation.

My company's solution is to make a proactive effort to meet with distressed borrowers and, using experienced professionals with a variety of mortgage backgrounds, to act as a single point of contact for the servicers. We must be more creative in our approach to keep people in their homes, such as a sales lease-back program.

This may cost more money in the short term, but the long-term savings to the mortgage industry and U.S. taxpayers could be tremendous. Time is of the essence; with every month that goes by, our bill grows. The stabilization of the housing market could help restore consumer confidence.

Michael J. Wallace Jr., Huntington

Editor's note: The writer is a consultant to the mortgage lending industry.