Homeowners Satisfaction with Mortgage Servicers Rises—But Risks Loom, J.D. Power Finds
25 Julio 2024 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
Rocket Mortgage Ranks Highest in Customer
Satisfaction
Mortgage servicers this year have successfully fought back the
headwinds of persistently high interest rates and financial
uncertainty to drive improvements in overall customer satisfaction,
but significant risks loom on the horizon. According to the J.D.
Power 2024 U.S. Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study,SM released
today, mortgage servicer efforts to improve digital experiences and
streamline problem resolution have helped drive incremental
improvements in customer satisfaction, but the overall financial
health1 of borrowers has declined sharply and an increasing number
of borrowers are paying their bill after the due date.
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J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Mortgage Servicer
Satisfaction Study (Graphic: Business Wire)
“On the surface, mortgage servicers’ efforts to elevate their
digital tools and customer service are offsetting challenging
market conditions,” said Bruce Gehrke, senior director of
lending intelligence at J.D. Power. “But digging a little
deeper, the data shows early signs of potentially serious
challenges for servicers in the future. A proverbial ‘canary in the
coal mine’ is the financial health of borrowers, which has
materially declined in the past few years. At the same time, most
borrowers are facing rising escrow costs that result in their total
monthly mortgage payment increasing. This means the industry has a
growing number of at-risk customers facing higher costs, a group
that tends to be a lot more expensive to service.”
Following are some key findings of the 2024 study:
- Financial health of borrowers declines sharply: Just 41%
of borrowers are currently classified as financially healthy, down
from 46% in 2023 and 52% in 2022. Conversely, the percentage of
at-risk borrowers is now 19%, up from 17% in 2023. Overall
satisfaction scores among financially unhealthy borrowers are, on
average, 117 points lower than among financially healthy
borrowers.
- Escrow costs rising and borrowers need guidance: Escrow
costs—the fees typically rolled into a mortgage to pay annual
property tax and homeowners insurance bills—are rising nationwide,
with 56% of borrowers experiencing an increase in escrow costs this
year. Overall satisfaction is 62 points lower (on a 1,000-point
scale), on average, among those who experienced an escrow cost
increase than among those who experienced no change. Among those
borrowers whose escrow costs increased, overall satisfaction is
higher among those who say they had access to tools/information on
escrow from their servicer than among those who say they were not
aware of such tools.
- Overall satisfaction with mortgage servicers improves:
The overall customer satisfaction score for mortgage servicers is
606, up 5 points from 2023. Improvements in problem resolution and
satisfaction with digital channels are the primary drivers of this
year’s higher scores.
- Controlling costs still a challenge: Self-service is key
to keeping costs down. Although satisfaction with the look and feel
of mortgage servicer websites and apps improves this year,
borrowers say the phone is still the most likely customer service
channel to drive a successful outcome and 29% of borrowers still
considered this the easiest channel to use. Among those who had a
problem, just 49% say their initial contact was calling customer
service.
Study Ranking
Rocket Mortgage ranks highest among mortgage servicers
with a score of 713. Regions Mortgage (678) ranks second and
Chase (676) ranks third.
The U.S. Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study measures customer
satisfaction with the mortgage servicing experience in six factors
(in order of importance): level of trust; makes it easy to do
business with; keeps me informed and educated; people; resolving
problems or questions; and digital channels. The study is based on
responses from 15,020 customers who have been with their current
mortgage loan servicer for at least one year. The study was fielded
from May 2023 through May 2024.
For more information about the U.S. Mortgage Servicer
Satisfaction Study, visit
https://www.jdpower.com/business/financial-services/us-mortgage-servicer-satisfaction-study.
See the online press release at
http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2024071.
About J.D. Power
J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights,
advisory services, and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of
big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling
capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been
delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions
with brands and products for more than 55 years. The world's
leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to
guide their customer-facing strategies.
J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia
Pacific. To learn more about the company's business offerings,
visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto-shopping tool can
be found at JDPower.com.
About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules:
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_________________________ 1 J.D. Power measures the financial
health of any consumer as a metric combining their spending/savings
ratio, creditworthiness, and safety net items like insurance
coverage. Consumers are placed on a continuum from healthy to
vulnerable.
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Media Relations Contacts Geno Effler, J.D. Power; West
Coast; 714-621-6224; media.relations@jdpa.com John Roderick; East
Coast; 631-584-2200; john@jroderick.com