Success Stories

One clear measure of a company's success is the success and satisfaction of its customers.  And one sure way to gauge a customer's satisfaction is the longevity of their relationship.  At Horizon, we are particularly grateful for our collaborative customer relationships.  We are equally thrilled when we first receive a contract as we are each time it is renewed, for contract renewal is an affirmation of our work and our relationship with the customer.
 

• Success Story #1: Working Weekends and Evenings, Horizon Completes 400 Field Reviews Ahead of Schedule
  • The Challenge: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - in response to a Congressional inquiry - needed to conduct 400 in-person Field Reviews within a short timeframe. The agency hired Horizon to handle all 400 reviews, with the assurance that they would be done on time and with the highest quality.
  • The Horizon Solution: With no time to spare, Horizon immediately hired additional licensed appraisers and administrative and support staff. We assigned senior staff to personally conduct the reviews, knowing they had the experience to handle the reviews effectively and in a timely manner. Horizon quickly set in place special procedures to overcome the job's unique challenges, which included:
    • Developing a new, proprietary tracking system in Microsoft Access so appraisers could track the progress of each review
    • Providing all appraisal staff with desktop access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) - normally accessible only to brokers and their staff - so appraisers could view a home's characteristics quickly and easily
    • Developing strategies to successfully manage "access denials" - when homeowners refuse access to their homes for any number of reasons - including authorizing overtime at company expense so that inspections could be conducted on evenings and weekends
  • The Results: Horizon's expertise enabled us to quickly assess the overall situation, hire additional qualified staff and establish the special procedures and unusual access needed to get the job done. As a result, Horizon realized a higher than typical percentage of successful interior inspections. All 400 reviews were completed within the specified tight timeframe and, in fact, ahead of schedule.

• Success Story #2: Helping HUD Catch Up from a Technical Review Backlog
  • The Challenge: Marketplace factors such as unusually low interest rates had resulted in an unprecedented number of mortgage refinance applications. At the same time, HUD was consolidating their 57 field offices into four Home Ownership Centers (HOCs), which of course required that time and efforts be devoted to their restructuring. As a result, HUD hired Horizon to help them overcome the backlog of applications.
  • The Horizon Solution: Horizon quickly hired underwriters with experience in mortgage underwriting and valuation, Quality Assurance professionals, and additional data entry technicians, opening an Atlanta office to aid in recruitment. Working seven days a week - with overtime at company expense -Horizon trained employees on the specifics of performing Technical Reviews. We expanded office hours and added shifts to create a 24 hour/day, round-the-clock operation. We doubled our existing office space and added additional computer and printing equipment. Horizon also took action to improve procedures:
    • Redesigning the proprietary Technical Review system to expedite data entry, standardize handbook references, and improve Quality Control
    • Creating a system that would send data electronically to the four HOCs according to their different system formats
    As Horizon's staff grew to accommodate HUD's needs, we put procedures in place to ensure our continued smooth and efficient operations. We started our own internal Quality Control department, developed quarterly training sessions, built additional data integrity checks into our Technical Review system and designed reports that would identify weaknesses in procedures and production.
  • The Results: Horizon met HUD's challenges with new and innovative procedures that resulted in eliminating the backlog of Technical Reviews in a timely manner, and initiating a smooth system for information exchange with the Home Ownership Centers (HOCs).

• Success Story #3: Horizon Team Rallies During UPS Strike
  • The Challenge: Meeting our customers' needs with efficiency and speed depends upon consistent, daily shipments to and from Horizon and our customers' offices. Shipments can vary widely, but Horizon must be ready to accept and act upon them as they are received. On one day, a HUD office assigned over 20 boxes of FHA case binders for Technical Review. The problem was that UPS workers were on strike, and the company could only agree to pick up two boxes per day for 10 days, rather than 20 on one day, a situation which would have kept Horizon from meeting its customer's deadlines. While Horizon has working relationships with other carriers, they could not handle the overload either.
  • The Horizon Solution: Horizon is not a company that retreats from a challenge. Long before it became a catch-phrase, Horizon had the mantra, "We can do it." So, by way of trains, planes and rental vehicles, Horizon's management team traveled personally to HUD offices, picked up case binders, placed them on airline cargo services and brought them to headquarters for processing. We continued this procedure for the duration of the strike, working around the clock to meet our customers' on-time delivery.
  • The Results: When the UPS strike ended, Horizon was on time with customer deliveries of processed work. What could have been a disaster resulting in a huge backlog to catch up on, was an on-time success instead. And all the folks with mortgage and refinance applications were none the wiser.

• Success Story #4: Doubling Operations Without Slowing Down
  • The Challenge: Horizon had been responsible for the Insurance Endorsement Processing (IEP) function for one-half of the Atlanta Home Ownership Center (HOC); another contractor was responsible for the other half. When the time came to renew the contracts, Horizon bid on both and was awarded both. It was the first time HUD had awarded both contracts to a single vendor - a reward for Horizon's hard work, but one that brought with it an additional problem. How would Horizon handle twice as much work without getting behind?
  • The Horizon Solution: Part of Horizon's contract is the stipulation that work be processed within 72 hours; if it isn't, the work is considered late. Fortunately, Horizon management had the foresight to plan in advance how they would handle this if awarded the second contract; they had been recruiting during the evaluation process. Having decided to retain only a few of the other contractor's most qualified employees, Horizon needed to recruit for all positions. So after the contract was awarded and new staff hired -- but before the contract's actual start date -- Horizon conducted training in Atlanta. New employees became familiar with all aspects of IEP - the Desk Guide, checklist, workflow charts and screens.
  • The Results: After their thorough training, the new employees were ready to go to work on day one of the contract. They were able to maintain production levels and Horizon was able to meet contract specifications without any backlog or slowdown. We had virtually doubled our staff all at once while continuing to meet our customer's expectations for accurate, on-time delivery of work.

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