Primary Mortgage Borrowers Are Less Satisfied

US Banker | November, 2009

Longer wait times and increased documentation requirements combined to erode customer satisfaction with lenders this year, according to the J.D. Power Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study. As a group, lenders saw overall satisfaction dip 18 points to 739 (on scale one to 1,000).

BB&T topped the rankings at 783, followed by Wachovia (781); National City Mortgage (769); SunTrust Mortgage (769); Wells Fargo (754); Flagstar Bank (744); GMAC Mortgage (744); Bank of America (741); MetLife Home Loans (738); Fifth Third Bank (727); Countrywide Home Loans (720); U.S. Bank (715); Chase (713); CitiMortgage/Citibank (711); and Taylor, Bean &
Whitaker Mortgage (704).

Although there may not be a way to shorten the length of time between application and closing, and no one expects the amount of documents to shrink, there are steps lenders can take to improve customer satisfaction says David Lo, director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates. “They should map out a timeline from the beginning, and then meet or exceed the roadmap,” he advises. Closing on the date promised helped increase satisfaction, J.D. Power research showed. The scope of documentation also should be absolutely clear from the beginning.

And there’s a big payoff. ”Highly satisfied customers are much more likely to buy other products, including checking, home equity, and credit cards,” according to Lo.