DRI management forms alliance with Unison Global Partners.

Newport Beach, California-based DRI Management Systems has formed an alliance with Pleasanton, California-based Unison Global Partners LLC (UGP) to offer loan servicers of all sizes a low-cost and expedited method to seamlessly manage, track and dispose of distressed assets.

UGP offers an array of critical services such as REO management, title and escrow, valuation services and a network of real estate brokers and live online auction capabilities aimed at selling lender-owned real estate quickly and efficiently. UGP uses DRI's flagship software product, The Default Solution, as its automation base to facilitate the flow of information from servicers into the UGP suite of property-disposition services, eliminating human error and accelerating the process, according to the company.

Unison Global Partners offers a guarantee that the property will sell and yield the maximum possible price. This is made possible by UGP's utilization of several approaches over the course of its three-stage process, according to UGP. In the first stage, a property is listed with UGP's broker partner, REObroker.com, which has 60 days to sell the home using its automated system and its access to more than 80 million potential buyers around the world. If a sale does not occur as a result of those efforts, stage two involves an online auction to a global audience of investors and end-buyers lasting 14 days.

Stage three is a live auction, conducted according to a marketing plan designed around the particular property. The first two steps are successful in 90 percent of the cases, so only 10 percent would typically get to this last stage, according to the company. The end result is the assured disposition of REO properties, freeing lender capital, preserving neighborhoods by putting owners in otherwise vacant homes.

DRI's technology platform, The Default Solution, is an essential part of making this process work, according to Steve LaRocque, UGP's chief executive officer.

"DRI's technology and their client base form the perfect launching point for this unique service. The other service providers invited to join this alliance, in combination with UGP and DRI's industrywide contacts, will enable us to build and grow this business very quickly," he said. According to LaRocque, it is UGP's goal to make this approach the standard industry practice for servicers of distressed assets of all sizes and in all areas of the country.

"Our services and strategies are easy to understand and even easier to engage," he said, "We create a standardized, repeatable, proactive process to take charge of REO properties and, as a result, the assets are removed from the servicer's books and are sold at the highest available price. This business model reduces the cost of managing the REO process while yielding the most return and minimizing the loss of each asset."

Tom Moon, chief executive officer of Pacific Moon Properties. Huntington Beach, California, and founder of UGP's exclusive broker network, REObroker.com, agrees that the technology is a key to success in rapid property disposition.

"DRI's Default Solution is a comprehensive default-management technology that enables servicers to minimize traditional staffing levels in handling defaulted loans," he said. "When you can automate the handling of those assets, bringing together relevant information and helping to manage their progress through to sale, you can create a process that works quickly and efficiently, as we have done with UGP."

Paul Wright, senior vice president of sales and marketing for DRI, added, "With the increasing number of REOs flooding the industry, lenders are scrambling to find ways to handle their growing inventories while keeping costs down and maintaining their own internal business processes. One of the key reasons UGP came to us with their service offering earlier this year was our position in the industry and our willingness to think outside the box. The combination of our technology and their ability to deliver their service consistently and effectively will make this important new business a complete success, bringing tremendous value to lenders, servicers and investors alike."

DRI's The Default Solution offers a full suite of default-management software modules covering all aspects of the default-management cycle, including loss mitigation, bankruptcy, claims and litigation, and property preservation and pre-foreclosure. The Default Solution also features customizable Web portals providing interfaces for both a foreclosure and attorney focus, as well as for REO and broker interaction.