Field Asset Services Releases Industry Predictions for 2011

""Field Asset Services"":http://www.fieldassets.com (FAS), a Texas provider of field services to the REO industry, anticipates the field services industry to focus on advancing the vendor network and creating higher quality field service offerings in 2011. The forecast was included in the company's predictions for the industry in the coming year.

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""With the decline of the housing market, the use of field services has become a core business practice for banks, servicers, and investors taking on the day-to-day maintenance and preservation of REO properties,"" said Dale McPherson, president of Field Asset Services. ""With predictions that the REO inventory will grow in 2011, lenders will continue to face an array of new challenges requiring a greater reliance on third-party support to gain control over costs and risks.""

McPherson said that 2011 will bring challenges to the industry, but ""through these challenges, we'll see more innovation and future prosperity,"" he added.

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FAS's 2011 business predictions include the creation and implementation of vendor network best practices, whereby vendors that provide high-quality service and predictable turn times will prosper, and increased awareness of the rewards of property preservation.

With more distressed assets predicted in 2011, the burden of maintaining and managing REO properties is only going to worsen, FAS explained. Field service providers must offer more advanced services that provide a greater return on investment -- such as rehabilitation, code violation management, utility initiation, and inspections -- because properly maintained properties could provide an industry turnaround, FAS predicts.

Additionally, FAS forecasts that REO volume and consolidation will give rise to the single-source provider. According to FAS, given the number and variety of services that any given property may require and the influx of REO properties expected in the year ahead, the industry will begin to transition to a single point of contact provider model, and banks, servicers, and investors will gain greater returns on their investments and lower costs through this model.

FAS also foresees that objectivity and reliability will become ""pillars of everyday business."" In 2011, banks and servicers will require field service providers to implement more secure processes and technology to reduce fraud and increase risk management. Advanced workflow and photo management technology, as well as programs that more closely align field service providers' programs with the internal processes of their customers, will appear, FAS said.