Keystone provides tools for recording and tracking mortgages as well as escrow payments and disbursements. However, using this information effectively in encouraging homeowners to make timely payments requires other tools in Keystone.
The Delinquency Management functions work together with several reports to address this need. Typically you would use these tools every month immediately following the end of your affiliate's grace period for mortgage payments, and possibly also at the close of each month. You can monitor and take action on delinquencies in several ways.
Use the Delinquency Letter Data screen to manage your communications with homeowners regarding their delinquent mortgages. To access the Delinquency Letter Data screen, open the Families tab in the Keystone ribbon and click Delinquency Mgmt. For more information on this screen, see the Delinquency Letter Data screen section.
You can generate delinquency letters from Keystone using Microsoft Word’s merge feature. As part of this process, Keystone automatically logs the notices you send to homeowners so you can have a complete record of your communications with them. For more information, see the Mail Merge Notices Using Delinquency Management section.
Also, the Delinquency Management report is useful for this process as it provides full delinquency information, as well as complete contact information, including phone numbers. This report uses what is recorded on the Delinquency Letter Data screen for that homeowner so that the report corresponds with any delinquency letters that have been sent.
The data on this screen is only updated at specific times of the month or when you click the button on the Delinquency Letter Data screen.
When meeting with a homeowner, a copy of the Homeowner Annual Mortgage Summary report for the homeowner may prove useful as well. It includes only a single homeowner per page and includes all current balances, summary of past payments and escrow disbursements, and a complete breakdown of amounts currently owed. The Homeowner Annual Mortgage Summary report includes a great deal of information, so the affiliate representative meeting with the homeowner should be prepared to explain the report and answer questions.