How to Keep Borrowers Happy in Today's Digital Age
However, keeping borrowers happy isn’t easy, especially when many of them are struggling. And right now, a lot of borrowers are having a hard time managing their household budget, either because of inflation or because they haven’t recovered financially from the pandemic.
Related: How Borrower Communication Preferences Are Evolving
The Causes of Unhappy Borrowers
Most servicers are doing rather well right now, as the values of servicing rights generally increase when interest rates rise. It’s the main reason why the market for mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) has gone up.
But acquiring MSRs doesn’t come without risk. In fact, J.D. Power released a study on mortgage servicers and found all those MSR transfers are affecting the customer experience.
Related: How Prepared Are You for Rising Default Rates?
J.D. Power’s study was based on responses from more than 8,000 borrowers who had been with their current servicer for at least a year. It found that overall customer satisfaction fell 133 points on a 1,000-point scale when the loan was transferred to a different servicer. The study also found the borrower’s trust in their servicer fell 145 points when loans were transferred.
These results are particularly troublesome given the increasing likelihood that loan delinquencies have risen to pre-pandemic levels and may go even higher. That means a growing number of borrowers are going to be relying on their servicers for assistance. And if servicers are not ready, state and federal regulators will be taking note.
Related: How The Right Technology Can Lower Servicing Costs
It’s one problem if mortgage servicers start incurring costs when defaults start rising, but it’s quite another problem entirely when regulators start getting involved. We’ve mentioned it before, but it bears repeating – the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is keeping a very close watch on servicers these days and is tracking every consumer complaint.
The Key to Happier Borrowers
In its study, JD Power spelled out what most servicers should already know—that communication and transparency are key. This means servicers need to have digital technology in place that ensure their ability to deliver both.
Related: What We’ve Learned from Borrowers Exiting Forbearance
For example, the study found that trust matters a lot to borrowers, especially when it involves the decision to review their statements through digital channels. In fact, according to the study, when borrowers go paperless, their impression of their servicer improved. So, having digital technology that makes it easy to convert borrowers to paperless statements is a plus.
A happy mortgage borrower in his front yard carries his son piggyback at his home.This means that your servicing software should enable borrowers to get up-to-the-minute loan information about their loans through a self-service portal. Ideally, it should be white labeled with your brand image, so borrowers are never confused about who their servicer is.
You should also have technology that can be easily customized and tailored to how you choose to do business, including how you interact with borrowers. For instance, it should empower you to respond quickly to any questions or requests a borrower has in the borrower’s preferred language. And it should be constantly updated as new rules and regulations are rolled out to ensure that every communication is fully compliant.
Related: 4 Things Your Mortgage Loan Servicing Software Must Have
When it comes to improving the customer experience and providing every borrower with access to information about their loan options, the most powerful tool servicers have – besides an experienced team of customer service representatives – is digital technology. That’s why choosing the right servicing platform is so critical.
At MCC Mortgage Solutions, we understand how important it is to keep borrowers happy. That’s why our cloud-based software enables servicers to communicate with borrowers in more different languages than any other servicing platform. And it’s why we offer a comprehensive self-service, white-labeled loan portal that lets borrowers get all the information about their loan and payment options at any time. Our software even includes a comprehensive default management module designed to help servicers guide borrowers through their loss mitigation options while staying compliant with state and federal regulations.
If you’re interested in servicing technology that makes it a breeze to keep borrowers happy, give our team a call at 248-350-9290 or email us at info@mccmortgagesolutions.com.