The BKFS/LPS Desktop (“BKFS/LPS”) APR scorecard is the benchmark for which BKFS/LPS ranks your firm against others in your state. We have put together some simple tips to help improve this score. Each state has their own weighting concerning the value of each step; however most states percentages are close to those given in the tips below. I invite you to add your favorite tips in the comment section.

Top APR Improvement tips:

1. Referred to Received. This is calculated from the minute the servicer fills out the File Referred to Attorney event of BKFS/LPS and stops when the File Received by Attorney event is filled out. It is calculated from 8am – 5pm CST Monday – Friday excluding the 10 Federal holidays. The faster you can send back the event the lower this time will be and the better your APR score will be. However, this event only counts for approximately 2% of your overall APR score so in the big picture it is relatively unimportant. Any automation that can be done based of the file referred action can not only improve your APR score, but also allow your firms labor to focus on other manual processes required to complete larger weighted portions.
2. Referred to First Action. Usually one of the largest weighted portions of the APR score, this step is counted in days. It should be noted that those files referred after 3pm CST are not counted until the following business day. Any manual processes that can be accomplished through automation should be implemented. One quick way to automate this event would be to base the milestone event off of the process server update. Most importantly would be to have a flow chart of how a referral is to be handled given any situation, then highlight those areas that can be automated.
3. Holds/Stops. These items can be sent to you in the same format as the referral. What differentiates them is they always have a unique Case ID (RID) without a parent RID. Again, any automation that can be done from when the client refers the Stop or Hold to send back the milestone will save the firm labor that can be devoted to either the First Action or Sale Held.
4. Devote labor hours in the right places. Many times firms will devote numerous labor hours to monitoring BKFS/LPS’s for certain events. Once these events take place there are duplicate entries in both BKFS/LPS and the firms Case Management System (CMS), or in rare cases firms are only updating BKFS/LPS and not maintaining their own record of completion.By automating those tasks which can be triggered by the completion of another event (i.e. Holds/Stops, Referred to Received, Complaint Filed, Service Complete), this will enable firms to devote labor to tasks that are going to be manual.

Milestone event automation benefits all default servicing parties involved by: reducing labor, control costs, improving data purity, and trimming timelines. For the default attorneys and trustees – event automation will boost your competitive advantage by improving servicer scorecard rankings and overall profit margins.

Darren Meiggs
Integration Analyst
NetDirector
(813) 345-4634