How did Nationstar Mortgage become one of the world’s largest mortgage servicers in just over twenty years? Founded in 1994, they’ve grown to 2.7 million customers, $453 billion portfolio, and 7400 employees.
So what’s their secret? Unlike much of their competition, they focus on keeping people in their homes. Over the years, they’ve developed a number of innovative programs. These include their Community Outreach Team and Random Acts of Kindness project. They have an ongoing participation with Habitat for Humanity. The following review will look into the services of this mortgage company.
Details and Overview
Nationstar Mortgage operates mostly in the U.S., but also overseas, with an office in Chennai, India. A major advantage is the diversity of the services they offer. These range from real estate exchange, title, close, escrow, and valuation, to asset management services.
Nationstar Mortgage has its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. They have a license to originate residential mortgage loans in 49 states and the District of Columbia. They emphasize a “customer centric approach” to minimize complaints by focusing on borrower interaction. Nationstar Mortgage also emphasizes a “high-touch” standard of service. Above all else, this requires adequate staffing levels.
Hundreds of thousands of mortgages are sold every year. This has nothing to do with creditworthiness of the borrower, only with the financial situation of the lender. Nationstar Mortgage purchases many of these mortgages, so borrowers may unexpectedly find themselves dealing with a new financial institution.
Setting Up Your Account Online
For these people, setting up an online account is fairly simple. All they need is the loan number, last four digits of their Social Security Number, and the property’s zip code. This allows easy exploration of available options as to kind of mortgages, rates, down payment requirements, etc.
Regarding kinds of mortgages, fixed-rate means the interest charged never changes. Adjustable rates, in contrast, fluctuate with changes in the market. Adjustable rates tend to be lower because the lender is shifting risk of rate increases from itself to the borrower. The tradeoff for borrowers is if rates do rise, so do their monthly payments, in which case they would have been better off with a fixed-rate. (Sometimes the increase is substantial enough to make it unrealistic to stay on top of the mortgage.)
Nationstar Mortgage is also an approved lender able to offer Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterans Administration (VA) loans, which are guaranteed by government.
Pros and Cons of Nationstar Mortgage
PROs:
- The company is huge. Smaller competitors don’t have the same resources.
- They prioritize keeping people in their homes. Often hardship situations can be salvaged with creative programs.
- Mortgages can sometimes be refinanced at lower rates.
- They offer a wide variety of services, with the convenience of “one-stop shopping.”
- In 2015, the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), more commonly known as Fannie Mae, recognized Nationstar Mortgage as a Five Star Servicer (their highest rating). Each year, they rate companies demonstrating excellence in mortgage servicing.
CONs:
- Sometimes smaller, local companies can offer more personalized service.
Customer Service Review
ConsumerAffairs.com, founded in 1998, has over 200 employees. It provides consumer news and collects reviews from customers, giving companies a chance to respond. Most reviews on the Consumer Affairs site regarding Nationstar Mortgage are positive, but who doesn’t expect any large business to have some negative ones?
There are over 6000 Nationstar reviews on the Consumer Affairs site, giving it a four star rating (out of five). Most focus on competence of Nationstar staff, stressing the quick response to complaints. Some mention how Nationstar was able to refinance mortgages at lower rates.
Contact Information:
- Phone: (888) 895-2432;
- Website: Nationstarmtg.com;
- Address: PO Box 619098, Dallas, TX 75261-9741;
- Facebook: here.
- LinkedIn: here.
To sum up, customers gave Nationstar a lot of criticism since they came up 22 years ago, but you should expect that from any large corporation. That criticism, however, is not that much when you pair it with the positive feedback from most customers. Readers can verify this for themselves by perusing the above mentioned Consumer Affairs site.
Nationstar Mortgage and Habitat for Humanity
For those unfamiliar with Habitat for Humanity, their mission is to “build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.” (Habitat.org) Founded in 1976, it’s the largest nonprofit homebuilder in the world, operating in 1400 communities throughout the U.S. and over 70 countries worldwide.
Extensive use of volunteer labor makes Habitat for Humanity remarkably cost effective. Nationstar has an ongoing association with them. What makes Nationstar different from most mortgage companies is not merely their size. How many in the business make an effort to restructure existing mortgages so as to make it possible for struggling homeowners to keep their homes?
For example, Nationstar’s community outreach program assists customers who, through no fault of their own, are falling behind on mortgage payments. Perhaps there was an unexpected job loss or illness.
For people in this situation, the importance of acting quickly cannot be more important. Customers sometimes delay because they think their situation is temporary. The problem is, longer delays mean fewer and less palatable options. Customers current on their mortgages, but who anticipate problems in the future, should also call as soon as the upcoming problem becomes clear. Nationstar wants customers to get back on top of their mortgage rather than fall so far behind that foreclosure is inevitable. Who profits from that?
A number of options can be explored by Nationstar’s team of specialists. Refinancing may give homeowners more time to find work, recover from illness, etc. Alternatively, repayment plans or loan modifications might save the day.Various government programs exist which often help. Nationstar can assist with the application process, something much easier for specialists familiar with the programs than it is for the average homeowner trying to navigate on his own.
Summing Up
How would you feel if you were having your home repossessed? What can you personally do for those facing that situation?
You can’t pay people’s mortgages for them, however it costs nothing but your time to let them know options exist and the urgency of quick action. Let people know through social media, such as Facebook.
All images taken from the official Nationstar website.