ACB: Press Releases

Joint News Release

Contact:	Robert Schmermund (202) 857-3104 Jim Eberle (202) 857-3145	Fannie Mae Alfred L. King (202) 752-6136 Cenlar FSB Denise Vaccaro 609) 883-3900 x-3292	For Immediate Release September 19, 2001 #01-58
E-mail: [email protected]

ACB, FANNIE MAE EXPAND AFFINITY PARTNERSHIP BY ADDING PRIVATE LABEL LOAN SERVICING OPTION

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — America’s Community Bankers and Fannie Mae announced today that they have expanded the ACB/Fannie Mae Affinity Partnership — available only to ACB members — to offer community banks the option of a low-cost loan servicing program.

The enhancement is a special private label loan servicing program offered by Cenlar FSB, Ewing, N.J., one of the top loan servicers in the nation.

The Cenlar product is available only to ACB-member community banks that are Fannie Mae seller/servicers and have signed a membership agreement to participate in the ACB/Fannie Mae Affinity Partnership.

There are two key features of this program. Cenlar imposes no minimum servicing volume requirement; ACB members can access this option one loan at a time. Also, participants retain exclusive marketing rights, including the right to refinance customers’ mortgage loans.

The ACB/Fannie Mae Affinity Partnership, inaugurated in January, provides ACB members with many advantages in selling mortgage loans to Fannie Mae.

“The ACB/Fannie Mae Affinity Partnership has become a huge success in a very short period of time,” said ACB President and CEO Diane M. Casey. “We are now adding another vital building block with this unique loan servicing program provided by an ACB member for ACB members. This program enables ACB members to improve the profitability of their mortgage operations without giving up their customers.”

“We are thrilled to be working so well with ACB-member banks,” said Fannie Mae’s Jeffery Hayward, vice president of single family business. “This is a great opportunity for Fannie Mae to maintain its leadership in the secondary mortgage market and for ACB-member banks to serve their customers.”

“The foundation of a successful community banking strategy is creating and maintaining a loyal and satisfied customer base,” said Michael W. Young, president and CEO, Cenlar FSB. “The specially tailored private label program will reinforce and enhance this strategy through technology and targeted customer care.”

“Although we try to be as competitive as possible in this lender-saturated loan market, our participation in this ACB member program has given us that extra edge in both competition and profitability for our bank,” said Alan Kilburg, vice president, Liberty Bank for Savings, Chicago.

Cenlar offers participants two servicing options:

Subservicing. Cenlar services the loan on the bank’s behalf. The originator of the loan remains the servicer of record.

Servicing-released. The institution sells the servicing rights to Cenlar but the loan is serviced in the bank’s name.

Cenlar’s service is designed so that it is not competing with participants for loan originations or the offering of retail bank products.

The bank’s name and logo is on all outbound correspondence, including notices, letters, statements and coupon books.
Cenlar accepts payments by check made out to the bank or by draft from the borrower’s bank account.
Cenlar sends a customized welcome letter to all new loan customers.
Cenlar operates a dedicated toll-free number that greets customers with the bank’s name.
Cenlar provides live-call transfer to the bank’s retail center for sales or refinance opportunities.
Around-the-clock Internet access to loan data is provided for both bank management and borrowers.

“What clinches our decision to use Cenlar is how they make everything transparent to the borrower,” said Kevin Dunne, senior vice president, Roslyn Savings Bank, Jericho, N.Y. “Our customers will think they’re dealing with us, and that’s the way we want it. Also, Cenlar isn’t competing with us for loans or other products, so there is no conflict of interest.”

Benefits of the ACB/Fannie Mae Affinity Partnership include: cost savings to ACB members; access to Fannie Mae’s cutting edge technology for underwriting loans, including access through the Internet; enhanced access to Fannie Mae products to help members meet Community Reinvestment Act requirements; in-depth portfolio analysis to identify secondary market sales opportunities; and educational and training support from both ACB and Fannie Mae in how to expand access to the secondary market.

America’s Community Bankers is the national trade association committed to shaping the future of banking by being the innovative industry leader strengthening the competitive position of community banks. To learn more about ACB, visit www.AmericasCommunityBankers.com.

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