Mortgage Contracting Services, LLC [1], is a national property services company founded in 1986. MCS provides property inspections, property preservation, REO property maintenance, REO rehab and repair, property registrations, HOA and utility services, and other property-related services in all 50 states in the U.S. and its’ surrounding territories.
The Human Element
MCS credits its success on several factors, including its commitment to building a strong, experienced team. As such, MCS boasts a management team “with more than 750 years combined experience in the financial services industry.” That focus is backed by MCS’ trend of hiring/promoting from within the existing team.
“We continue to believe that the best people, processes, and technology will enable us to maintain a leadership role in this industry,” said Caroline Reaves, CEO. She added that “almost 100%” of the company’s team leads, supervisors, and managers were promoted from within MCS.
That focus on the “people” factor has been challenged over the past year, as MCS, along with the rest of the industry, has adapted to what has become, at least for now, the “new normal.” With more than 95% of MCS’ team working from home offices, all involved have had to reexamine best practices for management, recruitment, and other considerations.
Reaves explained, “Connecting with new employees outside of the typical office environment requires intentional leadership at all levels.” She noted that MCS managers connect with their teams via regular daily phone calls and other means of communication. “Our managers know that having a personal relationship with each employee is critical to ensure that new talent, as well as existing employees, feel valued and respected. … We strive to ensure that all of our employees know just how important they are.”
Of course, recruitment from outside the company—or even the industry—has its place as well.
“We continue to grow our strong, diverse workforce by bringing in talent from outside of the industry and providing them with training and development opportunities to grow their careers,” Reaves said.
Challenges Faced, Potential Ahead
As the industry has continued dealing with the impact of the ongoing foreclosure moratoriums, Reaves says MCS has “strategically dedicated resources to improving our processes, ensuring that we will be ready when those moratoriums lift.”
MCS has also maintained a strong focus on technology, working to marry new areas of innovation into the most impactful areas of its business. Reaves explained that “MCS relies on a number of ‘technology usage themes’ that help guide the application of technology in field services.”
Recent examples of this focus include:
- Leveraging MCS’ mobile application to create the capability for homeowners to perform self-serve loss draft inspections
- Embedding business policy/rules, government regulations, and customer needs into systems logic
- Deploying “bots” that run throughout the day to help with repetitive tasks
- Use of machine learning to assist with review of images
As we navigate the early months of 2021, MCS is focused on preparing for a significant increase in workload once moratoriums eventually lift.