RALEIGH, North Carolina (Reuters) - The "robo-signing" of foreclosure documents in the past year underscores the need for a streamlined effort by policymakers, regulators and the banking industry to implement new mortgage servicing standards, a White House adviser said on Monday.

"It is an area that needs to be cleaned up," said James Parrott, a senior adviser at the White House's National Economic Council. "To get to a coherent future of servicing standards, we all need to push in the same direction."

Speaking at a mortgage conference held by the North Carolina Bankers Association, he added that it is a "critical time for housing" and that the administration and the industry could possibly hurt the already shaky sector if new servicing standards are rolled out in an ad hoc manner.

"What we don't need is a patchwork rules of the road," he said.

(Reporting by Margaret Chadbourn; Editing by Andrea Ricci)