A survey of borrowers who recently closed on a new mortgage finds that mortgage bankers are doing a better job of taking care of their customers. The report also identified which lenders ranked highest.
Companies that originate residential loans have stepped up their service to prospective borrowers since last year, and these customers are more satisfied as a result.
That was according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study.
The report was based on a survey of more than 3,600 borrowers who closed on a new mortgage. The survey was completed between July and September.
Lenders were ranked on a scale of one to a thousand, and this year’s average industry score was 747 — a 13-point increase from 2010.
Borrowers were asked to rate the application-approval process, their loan representative, the loan closing and customer contact.
“The increase in customer satisfaction is driven by improvements in many of the key best practices, including proactive status updates, providing a time frame to expect and meeting it, and providing follow-up contact after the application is submitted,” J.D. Power Director of Financial Services David Lo said in a news release issued Thursday.
Lo contrasted the improvement among originators with less satisfaction among servicers in the research firm’s 2011 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study issued this past summer. The average score in that study tumbled to 718 from last year’s 747.
Lo explained that the tighter credit environment has left many borrowers unable to refinance and boosted their level of frustration. But the borrowers who were able to qualify, like those in the origination study, appreciate how lenders are taking the extra steps needed to make their customers happy.
And the improved service is paying off.
“Among the lenders that have experienced a substantial increase in overall mortgage origination satisfaction since 2009, overall satisfaction improved an average of 35 index points, and their collective market share has increased by nearly 5 percent,” the report said. “In contrast, among brands that have declined substantially in satisfaction from 2009 to 2011, satisfaction has dropped 25 index points, and their collective market share declined by nearly 5 percent.”
The top-ranked originator was Quicken Loans Inc. It was the second year in a row that the Detroit-based lender was No. 1.
Quicken, which had a score of 818, ranked as the eighth-biggest U.S. lender in the third quarter with $8.4 billion in originations based on data compiled by Mortgage Daily.
J.D. Power attributed Quicken’s success to it strong performance in the application-approval process and the closing process.
“Being the greatest in our industry in client satisfaction for the second straight year shows the incredible effort and dedication our over 5,200 innovative and highly motivated team members bring to work with them each and every day,” Quicken Founder and Chairman Dan Gilbert said in a statement. “Our talented brain force, coupled with our technology and process-driven home lending platform, sets a new and increasingly higher standard when it comes to speed, scalability, and an experience that is engineered to amaze.”
Behind Quicken was SunTrust Mortgage Inc. with a score of 791. SunTrust’s loan representatives and closing factors ranked high. The Atlanta-based company closed $5.8 billion in the third quarter.
No. 3 was INGÂ Bank with a 789 score, then Branch Banking and Trust Co.’s 781 and JPMorgan Chase &Â Co.’s 760. U.S. Home Mortgage also came in with a 760 score.
At the bottom of the list, which included 16 lenders, was Bank of America Home Loans. The Calabasas, Calif.-based company had a score of 710.
