Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: mortgage rate + mortgage + rate  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/4/2008)

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Is the Mortgage Rate the only important factor in which mortgage lending you should put your trust on?

In addition to lowest rates, here at Homebound Mortgage we believe Customer Satisfaction is more important. The article below speaks loudly.

Why Mortgage Lending Ranks Low in Consumer Satisfaction
(source: see the bottom of this page)

A new survey of recent mortgage purchasers by the international consulting firm CFI Group shows that mortgage lending ranks relatively low on customer satisfaction among financial services organizations. The results indicate that while proposed reforms to the lending process may help improve customers' satisfaction, lenders will need to maintain superior levels of customer service to compete effectively as interest rates rise and the white-hot mortgage market continues to cool.

In the CFI study, U.S. homeowners gave the mortgage lending process a satisfaction score of 69 on a 0-100 scale. This score is five points lower than the average score of 74 for consumer financial services as measured in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a broad index of consumer satisfaction with the U.S. economy produced at the University of Michigan Business School. At its current ranking, mortgage banking trails all other financial services measured in the ACSI except for health insurance, which also scores a 69. By contrast, retail banking scores 74, and life insurance leads the sector at 79.

Responses to the survey indicate that this low score is due in part to the often-confusing steps required to obtain a first mortgage or refinance a home. Mortgage purchasers were in broad agreement with the idea that the mortgage lending process is too complex.

"CFI Group's analysis suggests consumers may be very receptive to the idea of a 'Guaranteed Mortgage Package', which is a central component of Housing and Urban Development's proposed reforms to RESPA (Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act)," according to Rodger Park, senior consultant at CFI Group. In this GMP process, lenders would guarantee, at the time of application, exactly what borrowers would pay to obtain their mortgage, including all settlement costs such as appraisal, certifications and title insurance. Current federal rules make it difficult for mortgage lenders to offer "packaged" loans.

"CFI believes that reforms like those being proposed by HUD Secretary Mel Martinez might help to boost customer satisfaction with the mortgage process," said Park. "According to CFI Group's research, even if the proposed reforms are enacted, the success or failure of individual lenders in satisfying their customers will be determined by key factors both specific to their organization and well within their control. Better performance on these factors will mean higher levels of customer satisfaction, which in turn mean higher origination volumes and the potential for pricing power."

According to CFI Group's analysis, the three factors with the most leverage on customer satisfaction were the overall time it takes to process a mortgage, their lender loan officer's or representative's role, and the convenience of processing and closing the loan. Mortgage lenders will increasingly need to differentiate themselves in these areas to meet with success in the marketplace as the era of 'how low can you go' interest rates and huge refinancing volumes draws to a close.

The findings are based on a nationwide sample of recent mortgage purchasers who were interviewed by phone in late July. Details of the study are reported in the October 2003 issue of Mortgage Banking magazine, the trade journal of the Mortgage Banking Association of America.

First Investigates mortgage companies

Colorado is one of only two states in the country that doesn't regulate the mortgage industry.  That means even a convicted felon could handle your home loan.

Over the past year we've shown you several examples of homeowners facing situations that seemed too bizarre to be true, but they were.  One deputy attorney general told us, in Colorado the mortgage industry is like life in the wild west.  Many homeowners we've talked to share the same type of story Bruce Fanning of Manitou Springs tells.  Mortgage loans sold to a company that turns out to have an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau.  Two years ago Fanning sent in 5 months worth of mortgage payments, all at once, because he was heading out of the country for half a year.  After he was gone, his mortgage company sent the checks back.  So then his loan payments were overdue.  We found many other homeowners who owed outlandish interest and penalties for similar problems, and paper trails of confusing numbers, even claims of foreclosures.

The Colorado Attorney General's Office is aware of the nightmares, but "mortgage lenders are largely unregulated in Colorado," according to Deputy Attorney General Garth Lucero.  "The Attorney General's Office believes that some reasonable level of regulation of mortgage lenders is a good idea."

So does Gary Broaddus from the Colorado Association of Mortgage Brokers.  Colorado and Wyoming are the only two states in the country that don't require any form of licensing for brokers, lenders or loan originators.  "Right now in Colorado, if you are convicted of fraud, you can still legally practice, and we want to stop that." 

But the Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association isn't sure that would make a big difference.  There are federal laws offering consumer protection, but there's a lack of enforcement.  Many homeowners say they couldn't get a response from the company, or the response they did get didn't seem to make any sense.  In that case, experts say you need to get a third party involved.