The Collingwood Group, a Situs company and Washington, D.C.-based business advisory firm, announced today that they have entered into a strategic technology partnership with Decision Ready Solutions, Inc. in order to significantly expand its existing claims advisory business.

Collingwood has over a decade of experience providing financial services clients with specialized business advisory services, including high value claims advisory, and loss analysis services. Collingwood's partnership with Decision Ready Solutions positions the firm as an industry leading provider of full service, out-sourced claims processing, pre- and post-filing claims quality control reviews, and claims processing technology. Collingwood's newly expanded claims outsourcing business provides clients with a highly scalable service designed to support the entire claims management and processing function and capable of managing firms' FHA (Parts A & B for CWCOT, Conveyance, PFS, SFLS and Reconveyance and HECM claim types), VA, USDA, Conventional: Fannie Mae (571), Freddie Mac (104SF), and PMI (1073) claims.

"Owing largely to the highly specialized nature of claims management and processing, firms have historically underinvested in advanced technology to support their claims management and processing functions relying instead on subject matter experts and manual processes. In our experience, however, subject matter expertise is only one of the several critical components required to support a high performing claims function, and an overreliance on labor-based processes often results in higher error rates resulting in correspondingly higher claims curtailment and denial rates," said Collingwood Group President and Managing Director, Brian O'Reilly. "We've actively followed the evolution of claims technology for a decade and identified Decision Ready as the unrivaled leader of claims processing and management technology – bar none. Through this strategic partnership, Collingwood will continue to provide the industry with the unrivaled subject matter expertise synonymous with the Collingwood brand along with the scalability of Decision Ready's proven platform. Coupled with Situs' counter-party strength and three decades of experience as a trusted provider of outsourced fulfillment services to the largest financial institutions globally, we are confident that our expanded offering will be well received by the industry," O'Reilly continued.

"Decision Ready in partnership with Collingwood will lead the much-needed transformation in managing servicer advances, recovery and loss management. The claims processing segment has historically been plagued with legacy technology and complex processing rules. We are excited to bring our combined expertise in technology and deep understanding of investor guidelines to the servicing marketplace," said Ravi Ramanathan, CEO of Decision Ready Solutions.

ABOUT THE COLLINGWOOD GROUP

A Situs company, Collingwood is a Washington, D.C.–based provider of specialized business advisory, business solutions and transaction services to the residential housing finance industry.

ABOUT SITUS

Situs is a global provider of strategic business and technology solutions to the real estate and finance industries. Situs has been involved in more than $1 trillion of real estate debt and equity deals across the U.S., Europe and Asia, and has acquired a number of platforms. In 2012, Situs acquired Deutsche Bank's European Servicing operations and became one of the largest third-party loan servicers in Europe; and Hatfield & Phillips, the largest non-performing loan and CMBS Special Servicer in Europein 2016. Situs' acquisition in 2017 of The Collingwood Group, a Washington, DC, advisory firm focused on residential housing finance, expanded Situs' offer in the residential market, and was bolstered by the 2018 acquisition of MountainView Financial Solutions, an industry-leading valuation and risk analytics solutions provider for the financial services sector.

Situs is a rated primary and special servicer with Moody's, Fitch and Morningstar, has more than $165 billion (€137 billion) of assets under management and is ranked a top 20 commercial loan servicers in multiple categories by the Mortgage Bankers Association. In 2016, Situs received a second consecutive "Advisor of the Year" award from Real Estate Finance & Investment magazine, and the "Capital Advisor Firm of the Year" award from Property Investor Europe. In 2017, the firm won the "Industry Contributor of the Year" award from Real Estate Finance & Investment magazine.

ABOUT DECISION READY SOLUTIONS

Decision Ready is a privately held mortgage technology and services company, founded in 2010 by seasoned financial services executives. Decision Ready's web-based technology suite is broad and focuses on multiple aspects of mortgage banking enterprise risk, including comprehensive solutions to address compliance, audit, vendor management and quality control needs. The current focus includes leading transformative solutions in default servicing, claims processing and bankruptcy management.