One of the large changes in the bank regulatory environment is the new focus on customer satisfaction with the mortgage process. Central to the Bureau’s mission is listening and responding to consumers. The Bureau has made it easy for the consumer, via their website, and encourages consumers to report their experiences with financial institutions. Just three quarters of the way through last year the CFPB reported that over 139,000 complaints had been registered, and over 50% of those complaints were with the mortgage process! Not good for the community banker!
The federal government, through the CFPB, is demanding that lenders provide a positive experience for the consumer. This goes way beyond a correct good-faith estimate and HUD-1. It’s about the consumer walking away from the closing table understanding the complete process of their loan. They also must believe that they were treated fairly IN ALL parts of the transaction and that the money they spent for the loan was worthwhile.
Community banks have generally always met these criteria because their local customer keeps coming through their doors, and a customer won’t do that if their unhappy. You would think this would be a ‘natural’ for the community banker. But wait, remember the ‘ALL PARTS’ above? That means the appraisal process also. This is where SAMCO comes in. SAMCO has an active appraiser scoring system for professionalism. If an appraiser does not score well (remember they’re representing you the community banker) then they will not be utilized, period. And SAMCO will have the documentation to back that up, as required by the CFPB now. This is just a small part of what we do to protect our client, the community banker.
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