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M R EP O RT | 37 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST ORIGINATION HLP: 'Mission Accomplished' HLP President and CEO Mark Cole discusses the company's legacy amidst its pending closure. H LP announced it will close its operations effective on December 31, 2019, following a decision by the board of direc- tors last in October. After this date, HLP will permanently stop providing all services and any agreements HLP has with servicers or other organizations will end. HLP made the an- nouncement this morning via an email and newsletter from HLP President and CEO Mark Cole. Founded in 2009, HLP collabo- rated alongside "the key stake- holders who work with families on homeownership—nonprofit counselors, advocates, lenders, servicers, investors, attorneys, and government." According to Cole, part of the reason for HLP's closure is the growing economy, and the resul- tant trend toward historically low rates of mortgage delinquencies. "I believe we should view HLP's closing as 'mission accom- plished,'" Cole said in a statement. "We were created during the financial crisis to solve a specific problem that was crushing the housing industry. Diverse groups worked together and created a unique technology that served as a bridge to the mortgage industry for hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure. But times have changed and now most servicers have built their own customer portals to serve at- risk homeowners. A decade later, we can take pride that we helped the industry make this transition and move on to other challenges." Cole went on to discuss HLP's role since the financial crisis. "In the past decade, we've helped more than 750,000 families seeking help," Cole said. "That work has had a profound and last- ing impact on individual families, neighborhoods, cities, and our nation. We also demonstrated that collaborating across sectors produced quicker, better solutions. Finally, we applied lessons learned from the mortgage crisis into a broad range of other programs and services—like pre-purchase plat- forms, post-purchase support, state mediation programs, MyLoanHelp, and HLPGuru—that improved homeownership sustainability." Earlier this year, HLP was se- lected by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) to power its national initiative to increase homeownership among people receiving financial counsel- ing from nonprofit counseling organizations nationwide. In 2018, HLP, alongside Soldier On and Citibank, worked to provide eligible veterans and their families with rehabilitated, single-family homes and providing the financial education needed to maintain successful, independent, permanent housing as part of the "Homes for Veterans" program. "It's been an amazing ride, and I feel very fortunate to have been a part of this work," Cole concluded. "It's tough to say good- bye, but I am confident that we have made the right decision. We owe a debt of gratitude to many people and hope they take equal pride in the difference made in the lives of families and commu- nities across the nation through our collective work."