Consumers and mortgage lenders may not have the best relationship. In fact, mortgage servicers have some of the lowest customer satisfaction scores compared to other industry groups recently studied by J.D. Power, a consumer data and analytics firm.
In its 2019 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study, J.D. Power found that overall satisfaction with mortgage servicers is 777 (on a 1,000 point scale), which falls just below life insurance (779). J.D. Power’s study is based on a survey of more than 7,500 responses from customers who originated or refinanced more than 12 months ago.
“Mortgage servicers are really missing an opportunity to build the kind of goodwill with their customers that has proven to translate directly to increased advocacy and repeat business,” says John Cabell, director of wealth and lending intelligence at J.D. Power. “The industry’s laser focus on lowering costs, managing regulatory compliance and minimizing delinquencies has come at the expense of customer experience. It is negatively affecting customer trust in their brands.”
More than two-thirds of customers say they do not have complete trust in their primary mortgage servicer. The highest satisfaction among customers with mortgage servicers tends to be from those who are using digital self-service channels.
J.D. Power released a chart of the lenders scoring the highest marks in customer satisfaction. For the sixth consecutive year, Quicken Loans ranked at the top of the list with a score of 878, followed by Regions Mortgage (848) and Guild Mortgage (828).
Source: “2019 U.S. Primary Mortgage Servicer Satisfaction Study,” J.D. Power (Aug. 1, 2019)