OT - Mortgage question

[FQDawg]

I know there are a few people on the board who either work in the mortgage industry or are at least very knowledgeable about it. Hoping maybe I can get some advice and/or unofficial guidance.

The mortgage for the house my wife and I bought last summer was through Company A. Shortly after the mortgage closed last year, we got word that the servicing of the loan was being moved to Company B. This has happened to me before. Company B is a large, nationwide company and we haven't had any issues, so it hasn't been a big deal. Earlier this week, though, I got a letter in the mail (dated June 13) that says the servicing of the mortgage will now be moving to Company C as of July 1. I also got emails from Company C on June 20 and from Company B on June 21.

I've never heard of Company C and their name is unusual enough that I thought the letter might be some sort of scam attempt. Turns out they are an online-only lender/servicer. I started looking into them and they have absolutely horrific reviews - basically one star across the board. Multiple people have reported that the company hasn't paid their property taxes out of escrow properly. Others have reported actions by the company that adversely affected their credit scores. It appears as if it is virtually impossible to get a live person on the phone and when it does happen, callers are often transferred multiple times before the call simply drops. Needless to say, I'd prefer not to have to deal with Company C.

So, a few questions...

1. I know companies can sell loans (or transfer who services them) but do I have any options here to prevent this from happening?
2. Assuming the answer to 1 is no and this is going to happen regardless, do I have any other options or things I should consider?
3. If Company C paying property taxes out of escrow is an issue, can I call Company B and change how my property taxes are handled before the loan moves? I realize the answer to this may depend on Company B but I guess my question is more of a general "is that kind of thing allowed" one.
4. Is two weeks a reasonable amount of time for this kind of notification, especially given that my next payment is ostensibly due the same day the transfer happens?
5. Is it worth calling the original lender (Company A) to see if I have options there?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

Yikes! I used a local bank for my last mortgage and was told they never sold mortgages. Mine was sold shortly after closing

 

[Cantdoitsal]

The servicing disclosure states your mortgage can be sold anytime and often. Ain't nothing you can do about that. Transfers can create delinquencies when payment transactions coincide with the transfer of the mortgage. The new service provider should be in receipt of your last payment instead of the previous. Sometimes you hafta do work to get it resolved. Mortgage latest cripple your credit score more than anything. Sounds like you got hooked up with Mr. Cooper. If you have an escrow the service provider has complete control of Paying taxes and HOI.

 

[CoastTrash]

You can potentially have the service terminate escrow but it will probably cost a few hundred dollars and depend on the outstanding balance.

Its probably not as bad as the online reviews but ain’t nothing you can do about it.

 

[ronpolk]

I work at a bank but not in mortgages, so someone on here probably can answer this better.

My understanding is there is nothing you can do them selling the servicing. I just think it is what it is. Those mortgage servicing rights are the only way a lot of companies are making money right now. Originations are obviously way down, so servicing rights help keep income coming in. And as far as changing your escrow, I know you can’t on FHA or VA type loans, loans that essentially have a government guarantee. It’s worth asking if you have a conventional mortgage but I’d expect the answer to be no.

My only advice is to just watch the escrow account closely. Make sure your insurance company knows who is doing the servicing now, although in theory they should be notified by the company.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

The servicing disclosure states your mortgage can be sold anytime and often. Ain't nothing you can do about that. Transfers can create delinquencies when payment transactions coincide with the transfer of the mortgage. The new service provider should be in receipt of your last payment instead of the previous. Sometimes you hafta do work to get it resolved. Mortgage lates cripple your credit score more than anything. Sounds like you got hooked up with Mr. Cooper. If you have an escrow you have no control over how and when taxes and HOI are paid.

 

[Podgy]

Don't worry. If any of these major financial firms harm Americans in any way, none of their highly paid execs will have to go to prison.

 

[MStateU]

The servicing disclosure states your mortgage can be sold anytime and often. Ain't nothing you can do about that. Transfers can create delinquencies when payment transactions coincide with the transfer of the mortgage. The new service provider should be in receipt of your last payment instead of the previous. Sometimes you hafta do work to get it resolved. Mortgage lates cripple your credit score more than anything Sounds like you got hooked up with Mr. Cooper.

If it is Mr. Cooper I’ve had a mortgage through them before and had no problems whatsoever with them. Website gave good info and a real person from Texas answered the phone every time I did call. May not be them but was just going to give you a little peace of mind if it was. People don’t typically log on and leave a review if everything is going fine.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

If it is Mr. Cooper I’ve had a mortgage through them before and had no problems whatsoever with them. Website gave good info and a real person from Texas answered the phone every time I did call. May not be them but was just going to give you a little peace of mind if it was. People don’t typically log on and leave a review if everything is going fine.

Worked for them when they were Nationstar before they 17'd bad and changed their name. Somebody was smoking some good schit when they came up with that name. I was just guessing since he said "strange name".

 

[GloryDawg]

The servicing disclosure states your mortgage can be sold anytime and often. Ain't nothing you can do about that. Transfers can create delinquencies when payment transactions coincide with the transfer of the mortgage. The new service provider should be in receipt of your last payment instead of the previous. Sometimes you hafta do work to get it resolved. Mortgage latest cripple your credit score more than anything. Sounds like you got hooked up with Mr. Cooper. If you have an escrow the service provider has complete control of Paying taxes and HOI.

I paid my wife's care off last year. This was Nissan Finance. I made one payment to pay it off. They waited 35days to apply the money. I guess they were waiting to make sure that amount of money was legit. They reported it to the credit bureau as 30-60 days late.

 

[Podgy]

There's a reason Dave Ramsey tells Americans to get out of debt and pay off mortgages even when it's a low-interest rate. They are in control and even when the law is on the side of the borrower, it requires a lot of unpleasant work and time spent on anything else to get major firms to comply. Local community banks have people who live in the community so they're much easier to work with. Few hold on to mortgages any more. It's also a good idea to be educated on these issues and that's not a guarantee you'll be treated properly. MBA's and equity peeps run circles around the uninformed, uneducated and easily fooled.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

I paid my wife's care off last year. This was Nissan Finance. I made one payment to pay it off. They waited 35days to apply the money. I guess they were waiting to make sure that amount of money was legit. They reported it to the credit bureau as 30-60 days late.

Did you mail a check or pay online? You can get that corrected with some effort on your part but a final late payment on a paid off vehicle will have minimal impact on your scores the more time moves along.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

You can potentially have the service terminate escrow but it will probably cost a few hundred dollars and depend on the outstanding balance.

Its probably not as bad as the online reviews but ain’t nothing you can do about it.

FHA & VA require escrow and Fannie & Freddie require them as long as your balance exceeds 80% of the home's value.

 

[FQDawg]

If it is Mr. Cooper I’ve had a mortgage through them before and had no problems whatsoever with them. Website gave good info and a real person from Texas answered the phone every time I did call. May not be them but was just going to give you a little peace of mind if it was. People don’t typically log on and leave a review if everything is going fine.

It is Mr. Cooper, who my wife and I have already started calling Mr. Pooper. You know, because we're grown ups.

I'm glad to hear your experience was good (or at least not bad). And I get what you're saying about people don't generally leave reviews when things are going well. But almost all of the reviews I have seen are just scathing. There's no "they were OK in this area but messed up in this area" kind of comments. It's all "if I could give zero stars, I would."

And I found this on the BBB website:

Government Action: BBB reports on known government actions involving business’ marketplace conduct:

On December 7, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint and proposed stipulated judgment and order against Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, doing business as Mr. Cooper.

The Bureau alleges that Nationstar violated multiple Federal consumer financial laws, causing substantial harm to the borrowers whose mortgage loans it serviced. Specifically mishandling loan modification and servicing rights transfers, foreclosed on borrowers unlawfully, missed tax payments from borrower escrow accounts and failed to terminate private mortgage insurance when conditions were met.

Thanks to everyone who answered. I kind of figured I was stuck with this situation but wanted to at least ask

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Did you mail a check or pay online? You can get that corrected with some effort on your part but a final late payment on a paid off vehicle will have minimal impact on your scores the more time moves along.

The appeal process with the credit reporting agencies is pretty easy. I just challenged something bogus and it took me about 5 minutes filling out a form online and attaching a scanned document. About three weeks later I got an email saying I won the dispute and the item was removed from my credit report.

 

[GloryDawg]

Did you mail a check or pay online? You can get that corrected with some effort on your part but a final late payment on a paid off vehicle will have minimal impact on your scores the more time moves along.

Paid on line.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

Paid on line.

Easy to correct then. Their bad not yours.

 

[johnson86-1]

I know there are a few people on the board who either work in the mortgage industry or are at least very knowledgeable about it. Hoping maybe I can get some advice and/or unofficial guidance.

The mortgage for the house my wife and I bought last summer was through Company A. Shortly after the mortgage closed last year, we got word that the servicing of the loan was being moved to Company B. This has happened to me before. Company B is a large, nationwide company and we haven't had any issues, so it hasn't been a big deal. Earlier this week, though, I got a letter in the mail (dated June 13) that says the servicing of the mortgage will now be moving to Company C as of July 1. I also got emails from Company C on June 20 and from Company B on June 21.

I've never heard of Company C and their name is unusual enough that I thought the letter might be some sort of scam attempt. Turns out they are an online-only lender/servicer. I started looking into them and they have absolutely horrific reviews - basically one star across the board. Multiple people have reported that the company hasn't paid their property taxes out of escrow properly. Others have reported actions by the company that adversely affected their credit scores. It appears as if it is virtually impossible to get a live person on the phone and when it does happen, callers are often transferred multiple times before the call simply drops. Needless to say, I'd prefer not to have to deal with Company C.

So, a few questions...

1. I know companies can sell loans (or transfer who services them) but do I have any options here to prevent this from happening?
2. Assuming the answer to 1 is no and this is going to happen regardless, do I have any other options or things I should consider?
3. If Company C paying property taxes out of escrow is an issue, can I call Company B and change how my property taxes are handled before the loan moves? I realize the answer to this may depend on Company B but I guess my question is more of a general "is that kind of thing allowed" one.
4. Is two weeks a reasonable amount of time for this kind of notification, especially given that my next payment is ostensibly due the same day the transfer happens?
5. Is it worth calling the original lender (Company A) to see if I have options there?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

You get a grace period so even if you send it to the wrong place, so it shouldn't hurt you regardless. Might be a pain in the *** to get fixed though, not sure.

If it makes you feel any better, I have a nationally recognize bank servicing my mortgage and they are ******. Even though I have to pay escrow, I can't trust them to pay insurance. The first time they were supposed to pay my insurance and didn't, I called them and asked them what the hell they were doing. They said they couldn't pay without the insurance information (my account on their website showed they had the information), then they said they would get it processed within the next 15 days, but not to worry, I should have a 30 day grace period to pay after my insurance premium was due. OF course the escrow agreement is very clear that it's your problem if they don't pay taxes or insurance, so I just had to go ahead and pay it and wait for a refund.

So now every year, I pay my insurance and upload the receipt through the website. Then the ******** apparently look at the receipt showing it's paid and say, oh, that looks like something that we should pay also, so they send another check for that amount to the insurance company, and within 30 to 60 days the insurance company refunds me for the double payment. Luckily there is a long enough grace period on taxes that I can wait for them to get their **** together and I don't have to pay monthly and also stroke a big check and wait for the refund.

 

[paindonthurt]

FHA & VA require escrow and Fannie & Freddie require them as long as your balance exceeds 80% of the home's value.

Gubment

 

[dorndawg]

Gubment

This seems like eminently reasonable policy. As a taxpayer, I kinda like knowing government investments are secured.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

You get a grace period so even if you send it to the wrong place, so it shouldn't hurt you regardless. Might be a pain in the *** to get fixed though, not sure.

If it makes you feel any better, I have a nationally recognize bank servicing my mortgage and they are ******. Even though I have to pay escrow, I can't trust them to pay insurance. The first time they were supposed to pay my insurance and didn't, I called them and asked them what the hell they were doing. They said they couldn't pay without the insurance information (my account on their website showed they had the information), then they said they would get it processed within the next 15 days, but not to worry, I should have a 30 day grace period to pay after my insurance premium was due. OF course the escrow agreement is very clear that it's your problem if they don't pay taxes or insurance, so I just had to go ahead and pay it and wait for a refund.

So now every year, I pay my insurance and upload the receipt through the website. Then the ******** apparently look at the receipt showing it's paid and say, oh, that looks like something that we should pay also, so they send another check for that amount to the insurance company, and within 30 to 60 days the insurance company refunds me for the double payment. Luckily there is a long enough grace period on taxes that I can wait for them to get their **** together and I don't have to pay monthly and also stroke a big check and wait for the refund.

You are making things too difficult it appears. The last thing a service provider wants is to have unpaid taxes or HOI. Everybody industry makes mistakes

This seems like eminently reasonable policy. As a taxpayer, I kinda like knowing government investments are secured.

Home Loans without escrows carry an extra layer of risk. FHA & VA loans are riskier than Fannie & Freddie. Risk plays the bigger role on what loans require an escrow than government control.

 

[paindonthurt]

This seems like eminently reasonable policy. As a taxpayer, I kinda like knowing government investments are secured.

I’d like the government to not invest in things that aren’t in their lane.

 

[Maroonbulldog]

I know there are a few people on the board who either work in the mortgage industry or are at least very knowledgeable about it. Hoping maybe I can get some advice and/or unofficial guidance.

The mortgage for the house my wife and I bought last summer was through Company A. Shortly after the mortgage closed last year, we got word that the servicing of the loan was being moved to Company B. This has happened to me before. Company B is a large, nationwide company and we haven't had any issues, so it hasn't been a big deal. Earlier this week, though, I got a letter in the mail (dated June 13) that says the servicing of the mortgage will now be moving to Company C as of July 1. I also got emails from Company C on June 20 and from Company B on June 21.

I've never heard of Company C and their name is unusual enough that I thought the letter might be some sort of scam attempt. Turns out they are an online-only lender/servicer. I started looking into them and they have absolutely horrific reviews - basically one star across the board. Multiple people have reported that the company hasn't paid their property taxes out of escrow properly. Others have reported actions by the company that adversely affected their credit scores. It appears as if it is virtually impossible to get a live person on the phone and when it does happen, callers are often transferred multiple times before the call simply drops. Needless to say, I'd prefer not to have to deal with Company C.

So, a few questions...

1. I know companies can sell loans (or transfer who services them) but do I have any options here to prevent this from happening?
2. Assuming the answer to 1 is no and this is going to happen regardless, do I have any other options or things I should consider?
3. If Company C paying property taxes out of escrow is an issue, can I call Company B and change how my property taxes are handled before the loan moves? I realize the answer to this may depend on Company B but I guess my question is more of a general "is that kind of thing allowed" one.
4. Is two weeks a reasonable amount of time for this kind of notification, especially given that my next payment is ostensibly due the same day the transfer happens?
5. Is it worth calling the original lender (Company A) to see if I have options there?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

I’ve been in the mortgage industry 28+ years now- mostly in Starkville.
Unfortunately you won’t get a day on #1- they reserve the rights to sell anytime. Even banks that use the “we don’t sell our loans” schtick to get you to use them don’t have control. There is one MS bank that boasts this , and they are sometimes kept … for a while…. Then bundled up and sold for profit. Not 100% of the times, but certainly more than “never”.
#3. Call the escrow Dept and ask- they can only say no.

#4 yes. There is indeed an unspoken grace period lenders are forced to give you for transfers. I think it’s 60 days but they don’t really want you to know that.

#5. Like above. They can only say no…. But be prepared for them to talk you into a refi.

 

[johnson86-1]

You are making things too difficult it appears. The last thing a service provider wants is to have unpaid taxes or HOI. Everybody industry makes mistakes

I’m not making it too difficult. I really do need my home to be insured at all times. Sure, I’m probably not going to suffer a loss in the few weeks it takes to get them to pay my insurance, but that would be an idiotic risk to take just so I wouldn’t be out a few thousand dollars for a couple of months. I’d certainly prefer to have use of the money, but that doesn’t move the needle that much compared to the risk of having an uninsured loss of my home.

 

[Nugdawg]

I have a mortgage company in Madison and have 20 years in the business. There’s been a lot of good info already posted here so I won’t repeat it just to repeat it. The short of it, is that the Servicing Disclosure Statement you sign pretty much waves your rights on who services the loan. As for Mr. Cooper, like many national companies, I’ve heard complaints from folks and they aren’t the easiest to deal with but you should be able to navigate things. Your only recourse most likely is a refi and that’s obviously not something you want to do in this climate.

Fortunately for us, I’ve been selling loans to a local MS bank for around 15 years that keeps our loans with the exception of USDA and some VA. It helps us if a borrower has an escrow problem we know those folks. Also the borrower can walk in a local branch if need be. I’m just a little old school that I still believe in being able to do business with folks you can walk in their office or see them face to face. It’s not for everyone, but I still like that approach as much as it’s possible.

Credit reporting and the like is a whole other story! Sometimes it can be a breeze and other times it takes a lot of work to get things done.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

I’m not making it too difficult. I really do need my home to be insured at all times. Sure, I’m probably not going to suffer a loss in the few weeks it takes to get them to pay my insurance, but that would be an idiotic risk to take just so I wouldn’t be out a few thousand dollars for a couple of months. I’d certainly prefer to have use of the money, but that doesn’t move the needle that much compared to the risk of having an uninsured loss of my home.

Do they consistently pay it late every year? Does your HOI send the bill in a timely fashion? Your issue doesn't seem to be the norm.

 

[ckDOG]

Mr. Cooper just sold mine off. I was disappointed that they did. I had a great experience with them. Website was very easy to use and I refinanced through them entirely online, no appraisal, and got a killer rate. A mobile closing agent came to my house for paper signing as well. Was great. Haven't really explored the new setup which is Roundpoint I believe.

 

[ronpolk]

I’d like the government to not invest in things that aren’t in their lane.

I agree with that statement. But government being involved in mortgages have been a very good thing. The overwhelming majority of the country would be renting from someone like BlackRock without FHA type loans.

 

[johnson86-1]

Do they consistently pay it late every year? Does your HOI send the bill in a timely fashion? Your issue doesn't seem to be the norm.

They get the bill with plenty of time and they would probably pay on time most of the time, but most of the time isn't good enough. My main issue is that they don't pay until after I send them the receipt showing I have paid it. I thought maybe they just took a long time to process receipt of the proof of payment and that payment just went out in the interim, but I had to change insurers and I only sent them the dec page and the receipt for payment, and they still insisted on sending a second payment to the insurance company. So they didn't even have a bill to pay and they still sent a double payment to the insurer.

 

[dorndawg]

I’d like the government to not invest in things that aren’t in their lane.

This is literally how so many Americans can own a home.

 

[johnson86-1]

I agree with that statement. But government being involved in mortgages have been a very good thing. The overwhelming majority of the country would be renting from someone like BlackRock without FHA type loans.

Nah, they'd just have 5 year arms and there'd probably be slightly cheaper housing as people would be less willing to bid up pricing based on a low interest rate that's not guaranteed to last.

 

[ronpolk]

Nah, they'd just have 5 year arms and there'd probably be slightly cheaper housing as people would be less willing to bid up pricing based on a low interest rate that's not guaranteed to last.

Prior to FHA, home ownership was 45% in the US vs 66% now. And in MS 34% vs 72% now. You may be right about homes being cheaper but I’m not sure. In this case, supply of mortgages would definitely be way down without government’s involvement… but demand for housing would be the same. Someone has to meet that demand and it’s going to be someone with access to capital.

It’s hard to understand anyone’s gripe with the government being involved in the housing market, it’s damn near benefited everyone.

 

[johnson86-1]

Prior to FHA, home ownership was 45% in the US vs 66% now. And in MS 34% vs 72% now. You may be right about homes being cheaper but I’m not sure. In this case, supply of mortgages would definitely be way down without government’s involvement… but demand for housing would be the same. Someone has to meet that demand and it’s going to be someone with access to capital.

It’s hard to understand anyone’s gripe with the government being involved in the housing market, it’s damn near benefited everyone.

Lots of things have changed between the 1930's and now besides the FHA. The US's homeownership rate isn't crazy high for a developed country. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R41432.html#_Toc273977786

Lots of people with access to capital don't want to be landlords. There would still be a mortgage market, it just wouldn't have 30 year fixed rates. Not just anyone would be able to get a mortgage with a 3% downpayment, but they'd still be out there. I was once offered a zero down mortgage, with closing costs rolled into the mortgage, with a competitive interest rate, but it was a 20 year amortization with a 5 year balloon so you'd still have some pretty easy terms for people that are well qualified.

 

[ronpolk]

Lots of things have changed between the 1930's and now besides the FHA. The US's homeownership rate isn't crazy high for a developed country. https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/R41432.html#_Toc273977786

Lots of people with access to capital don't want to be landlords. There would still be a mortgage market, it just wouldn't have 30 year fixed rates. Not just anyone would be able to get a mortgage with a 3% downpayment, but they'd still be out there. I was once offered a zero down mortgage, with closing costs rolled into the mortgage, with a competitive interest rate, but it was a 20 year amortization with a 5 year balloon so you'd still have some pretty easy terms for people that are well qualified.

It appears in line with other developed countries. I don’t understand the comparison. Are you saying those other countries don’t have any government involvement in mortgages? I honestly don’t know but I find that hard to believe for most European countries. Seems the better comparison would be to find countries whose government has no role in the housing market and compare home ownership.

 

[FQDawg]

Mr. Cooper just sold mine off. I was disappointed that they did. I had a great experience with them. Website was very easy to use and I refinanced through them entirely online, no appraisal, and got a killer rate. A mobile closing agent came to my house for paper signing as well. Was great. Haven't really explored the new setup which is Roundpoint I believe.

Glad to hear at least one other person has had a positive experience with them. I guess I'll just take a "hope for the best, plan for the worst" approach and make sure I keep good records of my interactions with them.

I’ve been in the mortgage industry 28+ years now- mostly in Starkville.
Unfortunately you won’t get a day on #1- they reserve the rights to sell anytime. Even banks that use the “we don’t sell our loans” schtick to get you to use them don’t have control. There is one MS bank that boasts this , and they are sometimes kept … for a while…. Then bundled up and sold for profit. Not 100% of the times, but certainly more than “never”.
#3. Call the escrow Dept and ask- they can only say no.

#4 yes. There is indeed an unspoken grace period lenders are forced to give you for transfers. I think it’s 60 days but they don’t really want you to know that.

#5. Like above. They can only say no…. But be prepared for them to talk you into a refi.

I called my current servicer yesterday. I won't name them directly but it rhymes with Fells Wargo. Talked to someone about stopping escrow so that I can just pay insurance and property tax myself. They initially told me no (because the loan is less than two years old) but the agent was kind enough to escalate me to someone who might be able to help get a waiver or something. I'm not getting my hopes up but as you said, all they can do is tell me no.

WF also mentioned the 60 day period and that they can forward payments during that time. So I may just go ahead and make my July payment (it's scheduled to be drafted Friday, June 30 anyway), and maybe even my August payment in late July just to buy myself a little more time.

Not sure if the original lender can do much on a refi. Just using Google, it looks like the U.S. average for a 30-year fixed is just under 7%. The rate we got last summer was 5.5%.

 

[johnson86-1]

It appears in line with other developed countries. I don’t understand the comparison. Are you saying those other countries don’t have any government involvement in mortgages? I honestly don’t know but I find that hard to believe for most European countries. Seems the better comparison would be to find countries whose government has no role in the housing market and compare home ownership.

The countries with less government tend to have more home ownership, but that's probably more related to being less developed and having low costs than indicating that government involvement significantly lowers home ownership costs.

But yes, other developed countries often have less government involvement in mortgages. Canada, for example, does not have the government subsidize a 30 year, fix interest mortgages but they have pretty similar home ownership rates. That doesn't mean no government support, but once
you get the government out of securitization and trying to subsidize long term, fixed rate mortgages, you basically end up funding shortish term mortgages (say 5 years) with short term deposits, and just typical deposit insurance ends up working a lot like a mortgage guarantee (at least for the depositers; could be very different for the bank stockholders). So no, we likely don't have a high ownership rate because the government subsidizes it out the wazoo and dominates the mortgage securitization market. We probably have a high ownership rate because we're a rich country with a lot of land that spent a lot of time letting people build without loading them up with restrictions that drive costs up.

 

[Perd Hapley]

Mr. Cooper just sold mine off. I was disappointed that they did. I had a great experience with them. Website was very easy to use and I refinanced through them entirely online, no appraisal, and got a killer rate. A mobile closing agent came to my house for paper signing as well. Was great. Haven't really explored the new setup which is Roundpoint I believe.

I’m in same boat as you. Did our re-fi through better.com, who immediately sold to Mr. Cooper, who then sold to Roundpoint.

Better.com is best of all the online lenders FWIW. Very competitive and easy to use interface. Can check your rate options in real time and at any time before you lock, as far as what you’d pay in points or get back in credit for a given rate.

I’ve always wondered if there’s some kind of hustle where you get the highest rate to get a huge credit, then go right back and spend half the money from the credit a few weeks or months later on a much better rate through a refinance…..then pocket the rest.

 

[fishwater99]

Mr. Cooper just sold mine off. I was disappointed that they did. I had a great experience with them. Website was very easy to use and I refinanced through them entirely online, no appraisal, and got a killer rate. A mobile closing agent came to my house for paper signing as well. Was great. Haven't really explored the new setup which is Roundpoint I believe.

I have had a Roundpoint mortgage, no real issues, but sold that property recently, so no longer with them.

 

[ronpolk]

The countries with less government tend to have more home ownership, but that's probably more related to being less developed and having low costs than indicating that government involvement significantly lowers home ownership costs.

But yes, other developed countries often have less government involvement in mortgages. Canada, for example, does not have the government subsidize a 30 year, fix interest mortgages but they have pretty similar home ownership rates. That doesn't mean no government support, but once
you get the government out of securitization and trying to subsidize long term, fixed rate mortgages, you basically end up funding shortish term mortgages (say 5 years) with short term deposits, and just typical deposit insurance ends up working a lot like a mortgage guarantee (at least for the depositers; could be very different for the bank stockholders). So no, we likely don't have a high ownership rate because the government subsidizes it out the wazoo and dominates the mortgage securitization market. We probably have a high ownership rate because we're a rich country with a lot of land that spent a lot of time letting people build without loading them up with restrictions that drive costs up.

Countries with less government have more home ownership?

 

[paindonthurt]

I agree with that statement. But government being involved in mortgages have been a very good thing. The overwhelming majority of the country would be renting from someone like BlackRock without FHA type loans.

I don’t know this for certain but I’d be willing to bet housing would be cheaper without government money in it.

Same way as college costs.