You have to hand it to the National Association of Mortgage Field Services (NAMFS) and its members. When it comes to pushing the envelope on borderline illegal activity, the latest inspection requirements are at the top of our list — this week. For years, NAMFS members have been acutely aware that the $10, on average, that they pay is diluted to roughly $3 by the time it reaches Labor. While not earthshaking — paying $3 has been the norm for years — the latest instructions are! Here is the latest language from a US government Prime Vendor which has been edited for brevity,
Provide 15-20 photos. MUST HAVE KNOCK PHOTO TO BE APPROVED. Need photos of the street sign, house number/ address verification, and photos showing occupancy/vacancy indicators. Please take 10-12 photos to include all angles of the property, street sign, house number, mailbox with number on it and PHOTOS SHOWING YOU ARE KNOCKING THE DOOR. Expectation of Contact (Knock): The inspector is expected to attempt contact to determine occupancy and the identity of any occupants. If the property is deemed occupied but the identity of the occupant is unknown, the inspector should make contact to attempt to confirm the identity of the occupant(s).
An intriguing thing has come to pass, lately. Apparently, the financial institutions have lost track of all the names of their mortgagees. I do not jest. Inspectors are being sent to addresses all over the US and its Territories with no idea whom owns the property. It gets better, though. Inspectors are told to randomly appear at homes and knock on doors demanding all sorts of personal information. When confronted about why they are there, they simply wave a phone in the terrified occupant’s face saying, “Here, I have this on my phone!” No masks, no COVID vaccinations, no COVID testing — nothing in the middle of a global pandemic. In fact, no inspections are issued with the names of whom is to be contacted and Inspectors are ordered to ask all types of personal questions of the occupants such as name, loan information, etc. And the blowback has been epic! Daily calls to law enforcement are now occurring nationwide due to occupants and homeowners — rightly so — concerned whom is knocking on their door without any legal document stating they have a right to be there. There are a million news stories we hear DAILY about how we should never release our personal information to strangers. And yet here we are.
Veritable armies in the tens of thousands have been dispatched under the authority of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac to perform these intrusive occupancy checks. To this point and in disregard to President Biden’s Executive Order 14042 and the recent OSHA ETS on COVID safety, none of these people are required to be COVID vaccinated; be tested for COVID; or even wear a mask.
Here is how one Contractor put it,
[Redacted] just reinstituted their requirement for a door knock photo on Friday, 11/12/2021. They didn’t announce it to their network. Just started rejecting inspections.
My subs are having a fit because like a lot of other nationals, their orders do not supply the name of the mortgagor, the lender/mortgage company or any call back card or notice with a contact number for the homeowner to call.
It has provoked a number of confrontations already because homeowners think it’s a scam. Who walks up and knocks on a door and has no information on who you are supposed to be talking to or why?
Should you need anything from me just let me know.
I’m tired of being taken advantage of by the big nationals and servicers who are making the lion’s share of the money all while being protected because they are members of NAMFS.
It is no wonder why, without a pay raise in over 30 years, that the Mortgage Field Services Industry is terrified to obey federal law when it comes to COVID safety. NAMFS itself has refused to issue guidance on either COVID vaccination or testing and there was not a single work order which Foreclosurepedia found even requiring masks to protect the elderly. The most fragile in our society, it seems, are simply another line in the profit margin ledger. It is par for the course, though, when it comes to the lack of leadership exhibited by NAMFS.
