Initial Backup Servicing Setup
- Concord will undertake to work with the Primary Servicer to obtain whatever data information is necessary.
- Concord’s Information Technology (IT), Operations and Customer Service/Collections Call Center management team design the transfer protocol, database interface programming and all systems necessary to provide servicing for the transaction, including the assignment of key personnel groups.
Periodic Data Downloads
- Using the interface programming prepared by the IT team, Concord receives and downloads data into its servicing system on a predetermined frequency, to include all data available from the Primary Servicer.
- Auditing is available, with Concord producing trial balance and other reports to be compared with those of the Primary Servicer.
Cold Backup Servicing
- Useful in transactions in which the default risk of the Primary Servicer is minimal, Cold Backup Servicing is a good choice for Trustees/Servicers requiring no timetable for a servicing transfer.
- In the case of Cold Servicing, Concord provides investors with additional assurance that a backup resource has been structured and is in place, should circumstances warrant.
Warm Backup Servicing
- Warm Backup Servicing provides a greater level of assurance to the Trustee/Servicer that a transaction’s assets will be protected in the servicing environment.
- The Warm Servicing attributes are customizable, but are typically as follows: Data is warehoused by Concord in a manner to provide for complete transfer of servicing more rapidly than in the case of a Cold Backup Servicing arrangement and Concord prepares a monthly trial balance report.
- The data can be stored on Concord’s system and a copy of the data can be made available for inclusion on Concord’s Disaster Recovery Program.
Hot Backup Servicing
- In the situation in which there is a high or imminent risk of default on the part of the Primary Servicer, Concord receives data from the Primary Servicer on a daily basis, performs conversion of data onto Concord’s system to produce daily trial balance report and other periodic reports.
- The Hot Backup arrangement provides the environment in which Concord can most rapidly assume servicing and collection duties.
- In the event of the expectation of imminent default by the Primary Servicer, Concord and the Trustee/Servicer may wish to agree in writing to staff up to meet any emergencies that might occur. In such case, Concord will put in-place the personnel and resources required to immediately mail transfer-of-servicing notices and billing, provide customer service and collections, and handle operational requirements such as posting payments and providing daily, weekly, and monthly reporting.
- A copy of the data stored on Concord’s system can be made available for inclusion in Concord’s Disaster Recovery Program.
- Secure fire proof storage
- Complete document validation tailored to your needs.
- Database inventory tracking of files and individual documents
- Customization of required documents and exception reporting
- Inventory can be linked to receivables for reporting and scheduled maintenance, such as returning paid in full documents
Concord maintains an agreement with a nationwide provider of off-premises and mobile disaster recovery sites, Agility Recovery, to ensure its ability to perform servicing within 24 hours of a catastrophic disaster, such as flood, fire, etc. Complete copies of all are maintained in four separate locations for this purpose.
Concord also has a work from home program which allows users to utilize VPN and VOIP technology to access network and phones from remote locations in the event of a disaster.
- The SAS70 was developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and is the accepted auditing standard. It represents that a service organization has gone through a rigorous audit of their managed objectives and managed activities.
- Delliotte & Touche produces Concord’s SAS70 Type II
- SAS70 Type II
- Independent service auditor’s report
- Description of our Controls
- Description of the auditor’s tests and results of operating effectiveness
- Provides whether or not the tested controls were functioning effectively to establish reasonable assurance that the objectives were achieved in the specified period of time.
- Network
- Clustered firewalls with intrusion detection/protection
- Encryption of sensitive data using best of breed solutions
- Virus protection on servers and workstations, centrally managed
- Email gateway providing spam, malware and virus protection
- Real-time security monitoring and incident forensics
- O/S patches
- Log file consolidation and analysis
- Server health monitoring with email paging alerts to technicians
- Strong password-protected system access
- Security levels in application (user access and portfolio access)
- Compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard
- 3rd party vulnerability scanning/monitoring
- Enterprise-wide monitoring and alerting of sensitive data access
- Redundancy and Data Preservation
- SAN (storage area network)
- Clustered SANs with load balancing and automatic failover
- Multiple redundant hard disks, shelves, and controllers.
- Hourly point-in-time copies of data preserved on SAN throughout the day
- Backup SAN and servers on standby at second data center
- Backups (all data & software)
- SAN replication of data between three locations
- Online copies of data for 30 days
- Tapes sent to secure facility monthly
- Web farm utilizing multiple presentation and web services load balanced servers with automatic failover
- Virtualization of all primary Windows servers- VM cluster in each data center
- SAN (storage area network)
- Connectivity
- Active-passive, provider-diverse, Internet access at primary and backup data centers
- 100 Mbs private, provider-diverse, triangle between Concord’s home office and the primary and backup data centers with connection resilience through dynamic routing.
In addition to the common Primary Servicer role, Concord also acts as a Master Servicer in certain client relationships. In this capacity, Concord aggregates other primary servicer’s activity onto its loan servicing platform in order to provide a client with a single point of consolidated information. With this consolidated database, portfolio reporting is streamlined and obtained from one source. Along with the benefit of this reporting efficiency, a client can also derive the advantages of using Concord’s sophisticated loan servicing system, Interlink. Net to access real-time portfolio level and/or account level details over the Internet on the entire portfolio. Another option is to maintain multiple primary servicers for the billing and payment processing functions, and utilize Concord as a Master Servicer in order to perform delinquency collections on the aggregate portfolio or perform Customer Service and/or Collections themselves through Concord’s web-enabled Interlink.Net application.
- Your United States customers are subject to a withholding tax, payable to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. However, this tax-withholding requirement may be eliminated by the use of a portfolio interest exemption trust (PIET). Concord presently is acting as trustee for several of these trusts and has experience assisting in their creation along with the necessary documentation. As trustee, Concord will perform all of the many duties and services, as it is now doing on behalf of the other non-U.S. timeshare developments. Among these services, Concord will take custodial possession of your customers’ notes and be responsible for receiving and disbursing funds.
- This description of our services should not be considered to be tax advice from Concord, and we suggest you consult with your tax consultant to discuss tax issues.
Per IRS requirements, Concord annually prepares the required Form 1098s and sends them to our clients’ US and foreign consumers. In some circumstances, our clients may choose to perform the Form 1098 reporting requirements themselves, of which we will facilitate them in that process.
