FROM

I cant really tell

you why. It just
appealed to me.
I just liked the
concept of doing
property inspections
for mortgage
companies.

44

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COVER STORY

COVER STORY / CHRISTOPHER JOHNSTON

INDUSTRY INSIGHT
INDUSTRY INSIGHT

BASEMENT
TO BOARDROOM
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this month, Safeguard Properties
transformed what was once a small niche in default servicing into a
billion dollar business.
Robert Klein likes to be at the center of the action, and thats exactly where
he orbited for the first 20 years of Safeguard Properties. Starting in 1990,
he grew the company from a two-person basement office into the largest
privately held mortgage field services business in the U.S., a $600 million
business with nearly 1,000 employees. In 2010, he assumed the titles of
founder and chairman and turned the reins over to his son-in-law, Alan Jaffa.
Today, Jaffa and his executive team have
propelled Safeguard into a billion-dollar
property preservation specialty firm with
more than 1,700 employees. Safeguard is
now responsible for the preservation and
maintenance of roughly 400,000 properties
nationwide and in all of the U.S. territories
for a number of blue chip financial services
companies. The goal from day one has been to
resolve their clients problems and protect their
properties in a way that helps preserve their

communities and set the model for the entire

industry.

THE LEGEND OF THE NEW YORK CAB DRIVER

Raised in Brooklyn, New York, after his
family emigrated to the U.S. from Hungary
when he was three, Klein dropped out of high
school to travel the world and find his own
way. He returned with fond memories of his
adventures and the love of his life, his wife,
who hed met while living in Israel. The couple

moved to Brooklyn to get married. Lacking a

college degree and any specific career training,
he borrowed money from his father to pay for
a New York cab medallion and drove a taxi for
five years.
I knew how to drive, okay? Klein declares.
When Kleins uncle in Cleveland offered to
sell him his produce unit at the Northern Ohio
Food Terminal, he and his wife relocated to the
North Coast in 1977. He grew the business into
13 units, but after as many years of toiling from
2 a.m. to 9 p.m. and missing events with his
growing family, the self-proclaimed workaholic
decided to sell his business and retire.
Over breakfast a few months later, his
wife gently advised her high-energy husband
that while she loved him dearly, perhaps their
relationship would last longer if he were to find
something to keep him occupied and out of the
house during the day, like a new business.

45

A BURGEONING INTEREST IN MORTGAGE

FIELD SERVICES

Klein vividly remembers exploring a number

of potential businesses, but nothing grabbed
him, until he learned about a company that
did property inspection and maintenance for
the mortgage industry. After 12 years, the
partners wanted to dissolve or sell the business.
Robert heard about the opportunity, did his due
diligence, and learned that Secure Properties
Inc. covered two states, Ohio and Indiana. For
some reason, he liked what he saw.
I cant really tell you why. It just appealed to
me, Klein says. I just liked the concept of doing
property inspections for mortgage companies.
He bought the company in 1990 and kept
the familiar initials SPI by changing the name to
Safeguard Properties Incorporated. His first hire
was a woman who had worked for the previous
incarnation of the company, and she trained
the newbie in how to do boots-on-the-ground
property inspections. She also contacted all of
the former clients and field contractors to inform
them that she worked for a new company. About
six weeks later, they got their first call from a
potential client, and they are still a client today.
But when Klein contacted the contractors to
do the preservation work, they refused because
his predecessors still owed them money. A
graduate of the do whats right school, Klein
took a risk, knowing that the contractor could
abscond with the money. I wired the money,
he says. He did the work well, and that was
our first job. Then another client came in, and
another, and another, and Safeguard was up and
running, cutting lawns, replacing windows and
cleaning out vacant houses.

ANOTHER KEY HIRE

Several years into his new business, Klein

made another critical connection. While visiting
his family in Brooklyn, his sister took him to the
home of a childhood friend. When the friend
learned that Robert had a daughter, she boasted
that she had a fine, young nephew, Alan Jaffa.

She met Alan. The two wed the following year,

and after some convincing, Klein got Jaffa to
join Safeguard in October 1995.
He wisely had his son-in-law rotate through
all departments, starting with Inspections and
progressing through Vendor Management,
Property Preservation, Insurance Claims, and so
on. Jaffa spent his fair share of time manning a
bank of fax machines, receiving, and processing
client orders each day. It was one of the best
jobs Robert ever gave me, Jaffa confirms.
There was no better way to learn this business
than to have to clear the fax machines.
Of course, as the bosss son-in-law, Jaffa
encountered some suspicious, Who does this
guy think he is? glances from some employees.
My approach was always, Hey, Im just trying
to learn. Im not here to take your job, he says.
Back then, I had no other goal than to learn
and understand the business.
Naturally inquisitive, Jaffa fondly recalls a
favorite part of his day: 5 p.m., when most of
the staff went home. He would roll his chair
over and corner his workaholic father-in-law in
his cubicle in the center of the office. Then hed
pepper him with questions: What are you doing
now? Whats that for? But why do you do that?
I was like a little kid, Jaffa concedes.
He knows that his timing was fortunate,
especially because he got to observe Klein in
the formative years of Safeguards commitment
to continuously enhance its business practices.
By doing so, it evolves the way properties are
inspected and maintained for clients and for the
communities, and just as importantly, improves
the way the industry operates.
Robert and Safeguard were the
masterminds behind continuously evolving
all of the different services that we offer, Jaffa
says. Its our job to know before the client what
theyre going to need down the line, and furnish
even richer, more comprehensive information for
them to use.
Klein had already devised the companys
foundational mission: Customer Service =

25 Years
of Safeguard

Its our job to know before the

client what theyre going to need
down the line, and furnish even
richer, more comprehensive
information for them to use.
Alan Jaffa
1990
Safeguard Properties Inc. founded by Robert Klein
2 employees
5,430 inspection performed
1992
SPI launched Safeguards internal operating
system

46

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COVER STORY

In the early 90s, Klein had an epiphany:

Every client, every service in the industry faced
the exact same issues. Moreover, everyone

1995

1997

2000

96,200 inspections
Alan Jaffa begins working for Safeguard in
the Inspections Department

Hazard Claims Department created to

manage insurance claims and high-risk
properties
936,600 inspections

59 employees
Number of Inspections: 1,951,000

ORIGINS OF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

use specialized vendors to perform each service,

he says. Klein also stressed the importance of
vendors capturing the proper photos as evidence
the work was completed properly. If we cant see
it, it didnt get done, he added.

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Resolution. Being nice and listening attentively

to customers was fine, but it meant nothing if
you didnt solve their problem. Employees knew
that the fastest way to lose a job at Safeguard
was to not return a clients telephone call.
One of the biggest industry issues Klein
encountered when he first started the company
was the lack of quality control. Ive always said
there should be more than one set of eyes on a
property. We decided early on it was important to

followed the exact same guidelines developed by

HUD, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the VA.
I realized that if one of my clients had an issue,
all of my clients had the same problem, Klein
explains. So, if we came up with a solution for
one of my clients that was the solution for the
whole industry.
With interest rates hovering in the upper
teens, inspection of vacant properties wasnt the
same crucial service it is in the post-housing
crisis era. The industry was not that concerned
about a couple of foreclosures, Klein reveals with
characteristic candor. So, the field service industry
in those years did not have a good reputation, and
it was my job to change that reputation.
After the initial-secure inspection of a
vacant property, inspectors typically did a quick
monthly visual inspection from their cars. Klein
immediately outlawed drive-by inspections
and mandated that inspectors perform complete
visual inspections.
Next, he wanted to overcome the inspectors
refusal to do interior inspections for fear of
being accused of trespassing. Not going inside
prevented inspectors from catching leaks or
other deterioration that could seriously damage
a property.
Klein scheduled an appointment with
HUDs director to inform her that he would
no longer settle for visual, exterior inspections
but would have his inspectors perform interior
examinations monthly. When she reminded
him about trespassing, he responded According
to the mortgage document, mortgage servicers
have the right to protect their collateral interest.
The interior inspection simply allows the
mortgagee to see what is happening inside the
property so they can mitigate potential damages
before they become significant.
But why? she demanded. Were going to
go inside the property to see it, so that we can
save you millions of dollars in damages, Klein
replied.
She acquiesced, but informed him that they
would have to do so on their own dime. Klein

Robert Klein and Alan Jaffa conduct a lunch time strategy meeting in the 1990s.

47

Executive Profile: Alan Jaffa

Java with Jaffa

If theres one thing Alan Jaffa thoroughly
enjoys, its talking with people. In fact, if the
CEO of Safeguard Properties could have his
perfect world, hed spend all day chatting with
his employees about their work, families and
lives. Since taking the helm of the company
five years ago, hes made a practice of rotating
around the Cleveland offices so that hes
available at each location once a week.
To enhance his communications reach, he
also shoots a regular series of videos called Java
with Jaffa to address key issues and provide
updates to employees.
I dont like cameras that much, but once we
get rolling and I start talking, I dont care that
the camera is there, the gregarious Jaffa reveals
about his taping experiences.
Those listening to Jaffa immediately hear

48

two things in his voice: the great passion he

has for his job, his company and his employees,
and the fact that he is a native New Yorker. The
latter also conveys that its highly likely Jaffa
acquired his love of conversations growing up
one of nine children in the bustling borough of
Brooklyn, New York.
He matriculated through the Jewish
Day School system, and after he graduated,
Jaffa spent two years studying in Israel.
When he returned, he took some courses at
Brooklyn College, but a growing fascination
with business and imports and exports led
him to launch a business with his brother.
The two started buying and selling closeout
merchandise.
In 1993, his aunt told the 21-year-old
bachelor about a young woman in Cleveland

who was the niece of one of her childhood

friends. Shortly after, at Thanksgiving, Jaffa
met Robert Kleins oldest daughter, and the
two quickly fell in love and were married
seven months later in June 1994. During their
courtship, the couple visited his future wifes
family in Cleveland several times, where Jaffa
spent some time with Robert, visiting his startup mortgage field services enterprise.
Granted, he was intrigued by what he saw,
and he even agreed to perform some field
inspections of New York properties to help out.
But a year or so later, when his father-in-law
asked him to move so he could work full-time
for Safeguard, he initially had doubts about
leaving home.
Finally, however, in October of 1995, Jaffa
agreed to give it a six-month trial run. The

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COVER STORY
INDUSTRY INSIGHT
INDUSTRY INSIGHT

Alan enjoys working with young entrepreneurs in the

community, sharing advice and providing guidance.
Greg Robinson
young couple packed their baby daughter and
their suitcases; invested $12 to fill the gas tank
of their Nissan Altima; spent a few more bucks
on a dozen bagels and drove to Cleveland,
where they stayed in Kleins parents apartment
while they were in Florida for the winter.
Robert told me, Keep your apartment in
Brooklyn. Try it. If you want to return to New
York, you can always go back, so he did it in a
very wise way, Jaffa recalls.
Six months later, the Jaffas looked at each
other, with the question You want to stay
dangling between them. They stayed. Of
course, my wife and her mother had a house for
us the next day, Jaffa wisecracks.
Of the transition required, Jaffa says, The
reality is, while I did fall in love with Cleveland,
it was very difficult to leave home. I fell in love

with the business first.

Of his son-in-law who started at Safeguard
at the boots-on-the-ground level of field
inspections and climbed all the way up to CEO,
Robert Klein deadpans, I gave Alan the two
best things in my life: my daughter and my
company.
Today, Jaffa, 43, has deeply entrenched
himself in his adopted hometown, where he is
closely involved in the Jewish community and
the corporate community, serving on several
boards. His family is his first love. His oldest,
the baby who migrated from Brooklyn to
Cleveland with them, is 21 and recently got
married. She and her two brothers no longer
live at home. Jaffa and his wife reside with their
youngest daughter in a home that on weekends
is often graced by visitors young and old, who

are there to be mentored by Jaffa or just share

friendship and conversation.
Alan enjoys working with young
entrepreneurs in the community, sharing
advice and providing guidance, attests Greg
Robinson, Safeguards CFO.
Jaffa revels in his life and knows he has
much to look forward to at home and at the
office, including all those great conversations.
Although, he does admit feeling some
trepidation about one thing very certain to
haunt him down the road.
Im sure Ill eventually see a blooper reel
from my takes for the Java with Jaffa videos,
he says. Its going to be very embarrassing for
me and funny for everyone else, but I love doing
those.

49

I knew it was
about surrounding
myself with the
right people,
and a lot of the
people who are
responsible for
key functions are
people Ive worked
with for 15, 18
years.

Operating Officer, Safeguard moved into two

low-rise office buildings they had built fittingly
in the Brooklyn Heights suburb of Cleveland.
The buildings comfortably housed the roughly
300 corporate staff collectively.
In 2009, because they were running out
of space, Safeguard moved to its current
headquarters in Valley View, just south of
Cleveland. Along the way, Jaffa says, he learned
another important lesson from Klein: Clients
dont expect you to do the same thing for 6 or 12
months. Clients expect something different thats
bigger and better and continuously improving.
Robert never really focused on our
competition, Jaffa says. He focused on our
clients and on what was the right thing to do for
each property and the community and how we
make it even better.

HANDING OVER THE REINS

When Jaffa joined the company, Safeguards

headquarters were located in a high-rise office
building in a popular corporate strip. Safeguard
had roughly 18,000 square feet of space
distributed on several floors. Jaffa remembers
frequently coming in on weekends as they
ripped out walls to add 20 more cubicles.
In 2002, after Jaffa had been named Chief

After 20 years, Klein found himself growing

a little weary. He began contemplating selling his
company. After several months of negotiating,
a buyer and the attorneys all gathered around
Klein, pen poised above the sign here line on
the contract. Just as he set the pen on the paper,
a little voice in his head whispered, Man, this
is not what I want to do. He set the pen down
and announced a meeting with his family, where
he told them: Ive worked too hard to build this
business. If Im going to sell it to anybody, Im
going to sell it to you.
Jaffa was the logical successor, so he became
CEO officially in May 2010, and Klein assumed
the mantle of founder and Chairman of the
Board. Within a year, he had launched his own
company, RIK Enterprises, LLC, to handle his
investments. That first year was probably the
most difficult time of my life, Klein confesses.
But today, Im pretty happy. He and Jaffa
have an agreement: If Alan wants advice, hell
ask. Meanwhile, Klein enjoys overseeing his
investments from his spacious corner office
with panoramic views of downtown Clevelands
skyline and Lake Erie.
I figured as long as I was there, people

2001

2002

2003

350,000+ photos received

Contractor Web launched

Robert Klein makes interior inspections

mandatory for Safeguard vendors, setting an
industry standard
2,022,000 inspections

Safeguards vendors begin sending photos

digitally instead of mailing Polaroids
2,756,400 inspections
Mt. Washington, KY office opens

Alan Jaffa
said he hadnt come to ask for money, but he was
going to change the practice because it was the
right thing to do. Several months later, HUD
issued new guidelines calling for the monthly full
interior inspections, adding that if the inspectors
did not go inside, their company would be
responsible for any subsequent damage.
Soon after, HUD ended up raising
the amount it reimbursed for full interior
inspections, changing the industrys field

50

inspections practices completely. The whole

concept of looking out for the industry and not
just Safeguard was my goal, Klein says. It was
the right thing to do.
Emboldened, Klein chose to push harder
to ensure that his company knew more about
inspections and property preservation than his
clients. He began to foster direct relationships
with the federal agencies in charge of housing
and mortgages in order to share a perspective
from the field. Klein knew he wanted to position
Safeguard as the eyes, ears and boots-on-theground for the federal agency staff.
Additionally, Klein realized that involving
his competitors was the best way to ensure that
improved practices permeated the industry.
Back in 2004, this time working through
another HUD director, Klein initiated the first
property preservation conference. He contacted
his competitors and asked them to serve on the
advisory board and to participate. Now in its
11th year, the conference assembles a diverse
range of mortgage services companies to discuss
best practices for property preservation and
maintenance.
Klein also conceived of industry conference
calls to discuss urgent matters, such as how
to handle the post-Hurricane-Katrina mass
destruction of homes. There were more than 300
people on that call. Were dealing with issues
that impact the entire industry, Klein says. These
industry calls became a staple of Safeguards
involvement with the industry. The federal
guidelines have been revised completely from
where they were years ago, and I would say a large
portion of that is due to our input as an industry.

RAPID GROWTH

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COVER STORY

2005

2008

Vendor Conference and National Property

Preservation Conference Started
2,924,300 inspections

Hurricane Katrina changes the face of field

services
Industry conference calls initiated by Robert
Klein. Now an industry staple
INSPI created on the Windows platform
eliminating the need for faxing orders
11+ million photos

Recession hits U.S. devastating the housing

industry
Vendor Web launched
8,180,000 inspections

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

2004

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

would still come to me, Klein adds. So I

executive management team. Greg Robinson,
moved out of Safeguard to give Alan leg room to CFO, had been with the company for five years,
so Jaffa hired a Vice President of Operations,
run the company as his own.
CIO, General Counsel, and Vice President of
JAFFA MOVES TO GROW SAFEGUARD
Business Development.
Jaffa leading was as close to having Klein in
If we were going to go to the next level, we
charge as possible. In his late 30s at the time,
needed to do that, Jaffa says. I knew it was
Jaffa had plenty of energy and drive to maintain about surrounding myself with the right people,
the companys entrepreneurial spirit and propel
and a lot of the people who are responsible for
Safeguard to its next level as the industry
key functions are people Ive worked with for 15,
18 years.
leader. One of his first moves was to create an

Jaffa fostered Safeguards distinctive

corporate culture that features an open-door
policy and high visibility and access to the
executives. You dont need an appointment six
weeks in advance to come in and talk to Alan
about something, Robinson says.
When he first moved into his office from his
cubicle, his office had a wall of windows looking
out into the company. Employees, in good fun,
would jokingly post notes on Alans glass windows
such as Dont feed the animals. The shades on
the windows were the worst investment hes ever
made, he admits, because he never closes them.
Like his father-in-law, he loves to be in the center
of the action, and he treasures opportunities to be
on the floor with the employees.
Take the time Jaffa and Robinson appeared at
the desk of receptionist Jeannie Stiles, a 23-year
veteran who started in the one-room basement
headquarters with Klein, on a Friday afternoon.
Putting his arm around her as he handed her a
box, Jaffa said, Jeannie, I saw this, and I thought
of you. She opened it to find her new nameplate:
Director of First Impressions. Then the phone
rang, and it was Klein calling to congratulate her.
Were a company that sticks together as a
team, says Stiles. We care for each other, and
everyone is always willing to do what we have to
do to get the job done.
In September 2012, Safeguard announced
its first acquisition: the field services division of
a major mortgage services company. In 2013, to
enhance the resources necessary to inspect and
maintain the substantial portfolio of defaulted
and REO properties, Safeguard opened an
operations center in Richardson, Texas.
Our first of any type of acquisition was a big
bet that paid off, Jaffa acknowledges. It was
a very exciting opportunity for the company,
for the industry, and what weve been able to
do with more properties under our control has
been phenomenal for our mortgage servicing
and investor clients, as well as the properties,
neighborhoods and communities across the
country.

51

Executive Profile: Robert Klein

No Time for Retirement

Robert Klein lovingly credits his wife with
talking him out of retirement twice: Once in
1990 to found Safeguard Properties and once
just a few years ago to launch RIK Enterprises.
His son-in-law Alan Jaffa, who replaced
Klein as CEO at Safeguard in 2010,
affectionately quips: Robert doesnt retire; he
just focuses somewhere else.
Although he remains involved at Safeguard
in his role as Chairman of the Board, his
focus these days is almost entirely on the
family investments he oversees. Moreover,
he is so completely energized by his current
businesses activities that he continues to address
neighborhoods blighted by foreclosed and
abandoned houses throughout the U.S. that he
observed during his two decades running his
mortgage field services firm.
One thing that always bothered me was the
plywood boarding, he says. Thats a killer. You
put up a plywood board on a property, and you
advertise it: There goes the neighborhood. But
no one had a better solution than to board up a
property with that eyesore plywood.
No one had a better solution until a few
years ago, when an inventor came to Klein with
a game-changing idea he called SecureView.
Its a security system with clear polycarbonate
plates that can be installed over windows and are
basically impenetrable. As a test, Klein enlisted
firefighters to hack away with sledgehammers
and axes. The result? Barely a scratch.
Klein even went so far as to challenge a
senator from Ohio during a visit to Slavic
Village, an older ethnic neighborhood in
Cleveland, where RIK is managing a project
to protect, restore and sell the more than 2,000
homes in the community. I said, Senator, if you

52

can break that thing, Ill give you a donation for

your campaign, Klein recalls. Boy, did he go at
it with everything he had, but no luck.
To promote national awareness, RIK spent
more than a year exhibiting and demonstrating
the product at industry events. Three years later,
its gained widespread popularity as a plywood
replacement. A number of investors and financial
services organizations are all using our product,
and they are expanding use on a nationwide basis,
Klein informs. Its the right product and the right
concept. You install these secure windows, and you
cant tell the property is vacant.
As another key component of RIK, Klein started
Community Blight Solutions to oversee projects such
as the effort in Slavic Village neighborhood that will
address blighted homes community by community,
rather than by single properties in scattered locations.
He hired Rebecca Steele as the Executive Vice
President of Community Blight Solutions and
SecureView LLC.
We both knew security was just one piece
of the puzzle, says Steele, who has more
than 20 years of experience with mortgage
origination, community and consumer housing
communications and solutions. We met with
the National League of Cities, and we started
to generate solutions to address the blight and
impacts from the foreclosure crisis that have
damaged so many communities.
For the Slavic Village endeavor, they spent
more than a year developing a for-profit LLC
that includes the Cleveland-based real estate
and property owner/manager Forest City
Enterprises. They worked closely with the banks
to identify properties within the targeted redevelopment zone. Roberts position within the
industry opened the doors to be able to discuss

the issue with senior banking officials and create

donation opportunities that would fit nicely
with the programs objectives. These properties
also require substantial additional investment so
they can be repaired and placed into marketable
condition. Once rehab is completed, the
properties are then sold for about $60,000,
which equates to a 30 year mortgage at $490 a
month in an area where properties rent for $800
a month.
To be completely honest, though, despite the
early successes, even the workaholic Kleins focus
does not remain entirely on RIK enterprises. At his
downtown Cleveland office, the walls and credenza
behind his desk are layered with family photos.
Ive been blessed with four lovely
children who are all married, and we have 19
grandchildren, too, Klein says. But perhaps the
greatest blessing Ive had in my life, and Ive had
a number of them, is that they all live right up the
street from us. So, Im surrounded with love.
The windowsill overlooking Clevelands
Public Square and Lake Erie coastline also
displays a half dozen or more of Kleins
trademark hats. His colleagues in the mortgage
field services industry often joked that they
didnt recognize him if he wasnt wearing one.
Ive been wearing these since long before
Indiana Jones, Klein confirms.
Ultimately, foregoing retirement to sustain
his entrepreneurial drive all comes down to the
fact that he loves his wife of 41 years and she
loves him as long as he doesnt stay at home. I
always say, for better or worse, but not for lunch
or dinner, Klein, 62, concludes with a smile
punctuated with a sweeping wave of his hand.
Besides, Im too young to retire. All of this is
still in my blood.

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INDUSTRY INSIGHT
INDUSTRY INSIGHT

The industry
was not that
concerned
about a couple
of foreclosures.
So, the field
service industry
in those years
did not have a
good reputation,
and it was my
job to change
that reputation.
Robert Klein

53

Robert Klein ran Safeguard

Properties for the first 20
years of its existence.

I figured as
long as I was
there, people
would still come
to me. So I
moved out of
Safeguard to
give Alan leg
room to run the
company as his
own.
Robert Klein

TECHNOLOGY IS THE FUTURE OF PROPERTY

PRESERVATION

54

Jaffa and Safeguard know that the way

property preservation services are provided
for the next 25 years will be quite different
from the way they were provided 25 years
ago. However, one constant thats been there
for Safeguard since Klein hired the first IT
specialist early in the companys history is the
need for state-of-the-art technology.
Everybody wants more information faster,
quicker, and more comprehensibly, says
Robinson. So the major investments Alan

has made in technology will help us fulfill that

mission for our clients.
Improvements under Jaffas leadership so
far have included moving a majority of the IT
functions in-house from outside vendors. The
companys IT department now numbers nearly

260 people, including 10 who are dedicated

entirely to IT security.
Much of the demand on IT is to help
Safeguard control its stringent compliance
requirements that are essential to protect
its clients properties. In the distant past,

2010

2012

2013

Alan Jaffa Named CEO as Robert Klein takes

on role as Chairman of the Board
565 employees
10,272,550 inspections

Acquisition of the field services division of a

major financial mortgage services company
300+ million photos
12,826,000 inspections
Brooklyn Heights, Ohio office reopens

MapAlert launched providing geo-location

technology
Safeguards vendors go mobile with INSPI
Mobile, Photo Direct, INSPI QC

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COVER STORY

GOING MOBILE

the two new, state-of-the-industry data centers

that recently opened in Columbus and Dallas
will enhance the security and compliance
requirements for data.
Second, they will provide Safeguards
inspectors with the ability to shoot and stream
video of property inspections so that contractors
can view and ask questions in real time,
eliminating the need for Safeguards internal
Customer Service or Quality Control staff
to have to sort through a couple of hundred
photographs.
Everyone in our IT department knows
that the work were doing keeps us in front of
the industry, Mehok concludes. Thats where
Robert and Alan have always invested.

VENDOR PARTNERSHIPS

Safeguards vendor base of approximately

7,000 contractors is an essential component of
the company, according to Mike Greenbaum,
chief operating officer. Theyre the ones
who drive the main value within the value
chain back to our clients, he says. So, we
spend a lot of time and resources to ensure
that we have the right vendors, and that the
vendors are fully trained on client investor
requirements so they can execute our work
orders.
As part of Safeguards formal credentialing
process, new contractors must pass an extensive

Safeguards preference for leveraging

technology for their next leap forward is
evident in their commitment to creating a
mobile device network for their vendors. Just
a few years ago, contractors would record
a propertys condition with their legal pad
and camera, and then head back to their
office at night and transfer all of their notes
and pictures to their computer to send to
Safeguard. Now, with Safeguards proprietary
mobile app, they can use their smart phones or
other mobile devices to report in real time.
Currently, nearly 100 percent of their
contractors and inspectors execute their
property preservation orders on a mobile
device. We have a much faster turnaround,
so our clients are receiving the results of their
work order requests in hours versus days,
says Safeguard CIO George Mehok. It also
allows our inspectors and contractors to be
more productive so they are running a more
efficient business.
Safeguard is pushing the mobile device
network even further, Mehok conveys. When
he put a proposal in front of Jaffa to improve the
companys data center and IT infrastructure, the
CEO fairly quickly approved the multi-million
dollar project. The return will be twofold: First,

2013

2014

2015

19,195,400 inspections
Second Brooklyn Heights office opens
Richardson, Texas office opens

Vendor Web Mobile launches

500+ million photos

Video piloting begins for use in the field as

the company takes GIS technology to the
next level
25th anniversary
More than 1,700 employees
Next Generation Data Center (DC 2.0)

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

application and background check. At that

point, they are directly aligned with a person
at Safeguards home office who will take them
through the detailed steps necessary for them to
be successful with the company, establishing a
one-on-one relationship.
Throughout the year, Safeguards field
quality control representatives observe, audit
and check their work, so that they have realtime feedback. Once a year, Safeguard holds a
vendor conference in Cleveland and one in Las
Vegas for the West Coast vendors. Thats where
we implement any new policies and give our
vendors a forum to let us know what we can do
to support them, Greenbaum explains.

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

inspectors basically had to confirm that the

property was vacant. Now, they need to
complete an extensive 38-point checklist
and questionnaire on each inspection, as
well as take photos to prove the length of the
grass and condition of the entire property.
If they miss any of those steps, their clients
investor claim to the property can become
compromised.
Additionally, clients back in the day might
swing by occasionally for a quick hello and
a Danish, Robinson recalls. Today, they are
more likely to send a team to set up shop at
Safeguards headquarters for several days
to audit its systems and controls. Of course,
Safeguard does the same thing with its vendors
to accommodate the highly scrutinized controls
mortgage field service operations must have in
place to meet their clients needs and resolve
their problems. According to Robinson,
Safeguard has approximately 85 people in
internal auditing and compliance that didnt
exist five years ago.
Weve invested in the control frameworks
around how we do our job on a daily basis,
procedures, quality control, compliance and so
forth, Robinson says. Its also an investment
in the whole relationship that weve built in
partnership with communities as opposed to just
being the guy who cuts the grass.

SLEEPING SOUNDLY AT NIGHT

Continuing to pursue growth from various
angles, Safeguard recently announced the
formation of SCG Partners, which will allow
the family to invest in buying other companies
to grow into diverse areas where they can make
a difference.
In separate conversations, both the founder/
chairman and the CEO profess to have no
insomnia, due to their high comfort level with
how Safeguard is poised to take on the next
quarter century.
For his part, Klein says: Alan was the right
person, the right choice. So, I sleep well at night,
knowing Safeguard is in good hands.
After confirming his enjoyment of being
in the distinct niche space Safeguard occupies
and his motivation to continue improving and
growing the industry as its leader, Jaffa says:
When I put my head down on the pillow, I
know that we have tremendous talent in our
office and a great network out in the field, and
that what were going to do tomorrow is better
a property, make neighbors happier, improve
a community, and ultimately have a positive
impact.

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