This document provides biographies of three speakers at the American Conference on Mortgage Servicing: - James M. Milano is a partner at Weiner Brodsky Kider PC who focuses on mortgage banking, consumer finance, and real estate law. He represents mortgage companies and financial institutions. - Thomas O. Freeburger is Assistant General Counsel at the California Housing Finance Agency. He previously worked in private practice in real estate and finance law. - Jonathan N. Ledsky is a founder and shareholder of Varga Berger Ledsky Hayes & Casey, where he handles complex litigation and advises finance clients on compliance.

1. Meet the
Speakers
Produced by:
#MortgageServicing

2. Mr. James M. Milano
Partner at
Weiner Brodsky Kider PC
James M. Milano is a partner with the law firm at Weiner
Brodsky Kider PC.
Jim’s practice focuses on the areas of mortgage banking,
consumer finance, financial institutions and real and personal
property law. Jim represents and advises mortgage companies,
financial institutions and secondary market investors on issues
such as: (i) state mortgage licensing and S.A.F.E. Act related
compliance; (ii) FHA lending programs, rules and guidelines; (iii)
responding to federal and state regulatory audits and
administrative enforcement actions; (iv) state laws and
regulations concerning loan disclosures, allowable fees, and
prohibited practices; (v) federal preemption of state lending laws;
(vi) federal laws and regulations including, but not limited to,
TILA, RESPA, ECOA, FDCPA, HMDA, FCRA, and GLBA
(privacy); and (vii) implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act and
CFPB rulemaking.
Jim is nationally recognized as one of the leading lawyers in
reverse mortgage law.
Jim obtained several Bachelors’ degrees from Louisiana State
University (B.A., B.S. (1983), B.A. (1986)); and also obtained
his law degree from the Paul M. Hebert School of Law at
Louisiana State University (J.D. 1989). Jim attended Emory
University in Atlanta, Georgia where he obtained a Masters of
Law degree in taxation (LL.M. 1991). Jim is a member of the
Louisiana State Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia, the
Virginia State Bar, the Maryland State Bar Association, The
District of Columbia Bar, and the American Bar Association
(Member, Consumer Financial Services subcommittee).
Jim is active in several trade associations where he often
presents on topics of interest to industry members. Jim is the
former Chair of the Manufactured Housing Institute’s Finance
Lawyers Committee.
AmericanConference.com/MortgageServicing

3. The law firm of Weiner Brodsky Kider also serves as Outside
General Counsel to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders
Association and Jim is active in support of that role. Jim is a
member of the American Bar Association, the MBA and the
Governing Committee of the Conference on Consumer Finance
Law. Jim is a frequent speaker on topics of interest to industry
members and attendees of various financial services trade
association meetings, conferences and webinars.
Tell us about yourself :
I formerly loved to fish, but now, with twin 4-year old daughters, I
spend less time fishing and more time at the playground,
Gymboree and ballet lessons (although, I have taken my girls
fishing a few times and they have both caught their “first”
fish). Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I now live with
my wife and children in Arlington, Virginia.
Tell us what a day is like in your field:
With implementation of CFPB regulations in full swing, each day
is a series of client emergencies and triage. I love the challenge
and the excitement.
Tell us what you like about working at your company:
For me, working at Weiner Brodsky Kider is like being at the
epi-center of the marketplace of ideas in the mortgage banking
regulatory compliance arena. Our firm is a mix of very
seasoned and creative partners, and many exceptionally bright
and incredibly hard-working associates. I truly could not
imagine being any place else.
Tell us what you would change in the industry:
Believe it or not, after the dust settles on the final CFPB rules,
hopefully in the latter part of 2014, I think some “de-regulation”
in the mortgage industry would be in order. I would start with
loan originator compensation, qualified mortgages and the
servicing rules. Loan originator compensation rules have
become a Rube Goldberg-like contraption that overly confuses
what should be a straight-forward process at the most
fundamental level of our industry. I believe industry and
consumer advocates alike agree that qualified mortgages
primarily will serve to constrain credit to less qualified
borrowers. Those rules need to be loosened up a bit before it
has the side effect of hurting the broader economy. And, if
only qualified mortgages will be originated, while well meaning,
all of the loss mitigation and other onerous requirements under
the CFPB’s mortgage servicing rules will not be needed in a
few short years.
AmericanConference.com/MortgageServicing

4. Give us one tip/best practice:
The loss mitigation and certain other requirements under the
CFPB’s mortgage servicing rules (i.e., error resolution,
responding to requests for information, policies and procedures,
and early intervention with delinquent borrowers) should be
viewed as a broader and interrelated continuum and in the
context of an overall compliance management system for
servicers, and not a set of distinct rules or requirements.
Mr. Milano will be presenting on Error Resolution,
Information Requests & Direct Access/ Continuity of Contact
with Servicer Personnel.
AmericanConference.com/MortgageServicing

5. Mr. Thomas O. Freeburger
Assistant General Counsel at
California Housing Finance
Agency (CalHFA)
THOMAS O. FREEBURGER is Assistant General Counsel with
the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA). Prior to
entering state service, Tom was in private practice, litigating
and doing transactional work primarily in real estate, real estate
finance and commercial law. His clients were local and
regional banks, mortgage brokers and servicers, and other
individuals and entities in the real estate and finance industries,
among others. At CalHFA he has been engaged in many
aspects of real estate law and finance, currently working
primarily with agency divisions dealing with municipal bond
finance, single family mortgage lending and loan servicing, and
single family mortgage portfolio management. He has
participated on various panels for the American Conference
Institute, the State Bar of California Real Property Section’s
Annual Retreat, the California (now United) Trustees
Association and the California Continuing Education of the Bar
(CEB). In another field of endeavor, he is a steam locomotive
fireman and student locomotive engineer.
Tell us about yourself:
BA from the University of Virginia. JD from University of the
Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Five years’ service in the U.S.
Navy as a surface warfare officer. Among other avocations I
backpack, coach youth soccer and am a crew member on the
excursion railroad of the California State Railroad Museum,
working as a brakeman, steam locomotive fireman and student
engineer.
Tell us what a day is like in your field:
Much like that of in-house counsel in any industry. I deal with a
myriad array of substantive issues ranging from municipal
finance to legislation to personnel issues to contracting to loan
acquisition and servicing.
Tell us what you like about working at your company:
The people and the mission. We have an incredible group of
lawyers and paralegals who are bright, hardworking and a joy to
be around. The opportunity to work with them, and to mentor
and train the newer members of our family is truly rewarding.
AmericanConference.com/MortgageServicing

6. Tell us what you would change in the industry:
Well, in a sense, I am in several industries, so I’ll address
two. First, in the affordable housing industry, I would like to see
more consistent attention paid, and more consistent forms and
manners of financing developed so continuing affordability and
more long range planning is possible. In the loan servicing
industry, I think some changes in the compensation model would
better allow and incentivize loan servicers to devote more and
appropriate attention to loss mitigation in times such as we have
experienced in the past five years.
Give us one tip/best practice:
Don’t think much if any of what we have experienced in recent
years is new or different, except perhaps in causes, degree and
response. It has happed before; it will happen. Learn from it
and remember what you’ve learned.
Mr. Freeburger will be presenting on Federal and State
Government Roundtable on Mortgage Servicing: National
Standards, CFPB Final Rules, Preparing for and Responding
to Regulation and Enforcement, and How to Ensure
Compliance in a Multi-Agency Environment.
AmericanConference.com/MortgageServicing

7. Mr. Jonathan N. Ledsky
Founder & Shareholder
at Varga Berger Ledsky
Hayes & Casey
JONATHAN N. LEDSKY concentrates his practice in class action
and complex business litigation. As an experienced litigator, he
has defended numerous consumer finance clients, including
banks, mortgage lenders, finance companies, credit card issuers,
and credit insurers, in consumer class actions and other
business disputes. The class actions typically allege violations of
specific state and federal consumer credit, insurance, and
banking acts and challenge business practices under general
state consumer fraud statutes and RICO statutes. These
lawsuits involve claims under a myriad of federal statutes, such
as TILA, FDCPA , FCRA, ECOA, FHA, HOEPA, RESPA, and
TCPA, and state statutes, such as the Illinois Interest Act, the
Retail Installment Sales Act, the Sales Finance Agency Act, the
Consumer Installment Loan Act, and the Uniform Commercial
Code. Mr. Ledsky has broad experience both successfully
opposing class certification and thwarting substantive challenges
to business practices while upholding the purposes of specific
state and federal statutes and regulations.
Mr. Ledsky has removed putative class actions to federal court
and litigated issues of first impression under the Class Action
Fairness Act.
As an adjunct to litigation, Mr. Ledsky counsels consumer
finance clients on compliance with the complex array of state
and federal regulations issued by multiple departments and
agencies.
Mr. Ledsky is a founder and shareholder of Varga Berger Ledsky
Hayes & Casey, in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Ledsky received his JD
from Vanderbilt University School of Law and his undergraduate
degree from Franklin & Marshall College.
Tell us about yourself:
Actually born in Washington, D.C., I received my B.A. in history
from Franklin & Marshall College and my J.D. from Vanderbilt
University. I am a founding member of the law firm of Varga
Berger Ledsky Hayes & Casey, in Chicago, Illinois. I am a
baseball enthusiast, live within walking distance of Wrigley Field,
and have participated in a fantasy baseball league with law
school classmates for over 25 years.
AmericanConference.com/MortgageServicing

8. Tell us what a day is like in your field:
No two days are alike. You must be prepared at a moment’s
notice to drop what you had planned for the day to address a
client’s emergency or a colleague’s request for an opinion. A
day can be spent writing a brief, taking a deposition, negotiating
a settlement, evaluating the merits of a claim or possible
defenses, advising a client with a business or litigation problem,
or analyzing a contract. Every day seems different.
Tell us what you like about working at your company:
Working at Varga Berger Ledsky Hayes & Casey is a rewarding
and collaborative experience. We all bring different strengths
and perspectives to the table, and we all feel comfortable
consulting each other whether on a complicated case or on a
personal matter in the lunchroom. While we work hard and take
our clients’ matters very seriously, we do not take ourselves too
seriously. We enjoy a relaxed atmosphere where we celebrate
successes collectively, debate politics and sports, and mark life’s
milestones.
Tell us what you would change in the industry:
While the mortgage lending industry is experiencing a large
uptick in federal regulation, if I was Congress and President for
a day, I would off-set that increased regulation with increased
litigation safeguards. Reasonable people may debate the need
for more regulation following a financial crisis. Ideally, wellchosen, detailed instructions may prohibit certain products and
alter business plans and thus lessen market risk. Yet, even
well-chosen regulations increase costs, and increased costs
lessen competition. If compliance with regulations offered
protections against future lawsuits, such litigation safeguards
would off-set regulations’ increased costs. The mortgage
lending industry could move the costs of litigation defense to
compliance and accomplish the goals of the uptick in federal
regulation: a better monitored, more vigilant industry. A carrot
approach, rather than the stick. Safe harbors or other litigation
safeguards mean that the mortgage lending industry might also
benefit from new federal regulations. A win, win possibility.
Give us one tip/best practice:
Developing procedures and systems to track all borrower
communications (across a multitude of purposes) is the most
difficult challenge of the final rule’s requirement to establish
reasonable policies and procedures to compile a servicing file
within five business days.
AmericanConference.com/MortgageServicing

9. A servicing file includes (among other information and
A servicing file includes (among other information and
documents) a variety of borrower communications: traditional
documents) a variety of borrower communications: traditional
collection notes, servicing notices, correspondence to the
collection notes, servicing notices, correspondence to the
borrower and from the borrower, requests relating to loan
borrower and from the borrower, requests relating to loan
modifications, error resolutions, and foreclosures, and other
modifications, error resolutions, and foreclosures, and other
inquiries or questions relating generally to mortgage loan
inquiries or questions relating generally to mortgage loan
accounts and loss mitigation. The speed required to compile
accounts and loss mitigation. The speed required to compile the
the servicing file means that employees need training,
servicing file means that employees need training, processes
processes need developing, and tracking is vital. Review of
need developing, and tracking is vital. Review of servicing files
servicing files (for potential litigation risks) and monitoring of the
(for potential litigation risks) and monitoring of the timely,
timely, comprehensive compilation of servicing files is crucial.
comprehensive compilation of servicing files is crucial. The
The elements of the servicing file, given the short time-period,
elements of the servicing file, given the short time-period, require
require their own improved processes and structure (for
their own improved processes and structure (for example,
example, requests for loan modifications need their own
requests for loan modifications need their own tracking devices
tracking devices for the identification of status, borrowerfor the identification of status, borrower-submitted information
submitted information and documents, needed additional
and documents, needed additional information and documents,
information and documents, and next steps). The work of many
and next steps). The work of many employees, departments,
employees, departments, and efforts are reflected in a servicing
and efforts are reflected in a servicing file. Compiling those
file. Compiling those many efforts in an accurate, accessible
many efforts in an accurate, accessible servicing file is a
servicing file is a logistical challenge that requires an intimate
logistical challenge that requires an intimate knowledge of
knowledge of operations (and a willingness to seek
operations (and a willingness to seek improvements).
improvements).
Mr. Ledsky will be presenting on Complying With
“Prompt” Payoff Crediting and Payoff Statement
Requirements, and CFPB Demands for “Accurate and
Accessible Documents and Information” .
AmericanConference.com/MortgageServicing

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