Servicers lag originators in J.D. Power scores

For the first time, J.D. Power is comparing trends it sees in mortgage servicer customer satisfaction scores with what's happening on the originator side.

This analysis is telling of a business going in two different directions.

While the latest originator survey, released in November, found a 3-point year-over-year drop, the industry average was still a respectable score of 727.

How servicer satisfaction compares with originator scores

On the servicing side, the average score was 131 points lower than for originators, at 596. Compared with the 2024 survey, the decline was 10 points.

Looking at this another way, Rocket had the highest score among servicers at 685. Only three lenders in the originator survey had scores lower than that level.

But Rocket's score in the 2024 survey was 713, 28 points higher.

The change in focus is a result of what's happening in the mortgage business right now, led by the pending acquisition of Mr. Cooper by Rocket, as well as some of the smaller consolidations taking place, explained Bruce Gehrke, senior director of lending intelligence at J.D. Power, in an interview.

"There's definitely a focus, I think, on bringing more of the two experiences together and trying to create more [rather] than handling them separately, which has traditionally been more of the focus" at mortgage lenders, he said.

Taking a more whole-process approach to the business

While both servicing and origination are under pressure, a key element that drives satisfaction is engagement. "The more and higher [level of] engagement, the better that seems to go."

It is becoming a more unified process, turning mortgage creation through payoff into basically a cycle. The consumer finds a home, buys it, closes the loan, enters the servicing environment, he said. The next part is where it can take paths, either looking for a new home or staying in place and refinancing.

So J.D. Power wanted to start looking at this as a whole, much the same way many mortgage lenders are, Gehrke said. Plus, for both studies, Power is consistently in the field, with quarterly touch points.

The goal of these surveys is to allow industry participants to understand their customers better.

Scores are improving quarterly on the origination side, but on the servicing side, it is seeing a bit of a pull back.

What impacts servicer satisfaction

This being said, servicing satisfaction is more impacted by the economic climate and individual's financial health. Industry headlines have noted homeownership costs, particularly insurance and taxes, are on the rise, Gehrke said. So these consumers are stressed. Just over a third of consumer participants in the study are considered financially vulnerable.

Changes in how companies work with consumers, more reliance on self-service may be playing a role.

"It's a tougher customer to impress and face it, the modern mortgage servicing environment, very digitally focused, very efficient from a servicing and operational standpoint, [with] not many touch points," Gehrke said. "There's not a lot of opportunity to wow that customer."

It is a fine line, Gehrke said. Consumers want engagement with their lenders, but they are looking for a positive experience, not "frustrating engagement.

"You want folks interacting with you as an information source, as an educator on home ownership tips, ways to save money, ways to avoid paying any fees." J.D. Power looks at it as having a customer focus versus a profit focus.

What helps improve satisfaction scores

The challenge is that servicers don't have as much opportunity as their originator counterparts to have such interactions.

Then a number of business models exist in the servicing world, like companies which buy up mortgage servicing rights produced by others, or some entities subservice the asset.

"We definitely see in our data that that affects the perceptions and the ratings of the customers," Gehrke said. Given the divergent business model, no one size fits all answer exists on to make customer service more even across the process.

"But one of the things that does stand out particularly, and that we're looking at quite heavily in this study, is personalizing communication back and forth," he continued. "Getting personal communications creates a level of comfort, and eventually that comfort turns into some trust if those communications have value for the customer."

Why Rocket is tops consistently

When it comes to Rocket, which has consistently been at or near the top of both surveys (in the originator survey it was ranked sixth), it is a sign that what they do works well with their customers.

"They're very tactical about what they do," Gehrke said. "They're excellent marketers as we know, and they're the one mortgage company outside of the banks that has a national presence and brand awareness."

Rocket, which has had multiple Super Bowl ads, has invested heavily in brand marketing. In everything they do, they see it as a marketing opportunity, Gehrke said.

Their messaging is consistent and it starts from the consumer's origination experience.

Could Mr. Cooper affect Rocket's scores?

But the company Rocket is acquiring, Mr. Cooper, has historically not scored well in the servicing poll. This year it is ranked 23rd of 31 companies which are eligible to be scored, at 564.

Part of the low score is a result of the large number of financial stressed consumers in its portfolio. But Mr. Cooper is very focused operationally on its customers and work very had that that, Gehrke said.

"Some of the strong points that the Rocket team brings to this will meld very well with the operational expertise that Mr. Cooper has," Gehrke said, pointing to the latter's work on the technology side of the business. That includes an investment in the Sagent mortgage servicing platform.

"The cultures aren't as different as some might think, and I think they'll work well together," Gehrke said. "They'll complement each other in the areas where it is helpful to both organizations."

How servicers ranked in 2025

Rocket was followed by Guild Mortgage at 677 and Regions at 656, while Select Portfolio Servicing was No. 31 and last at 469.

A sign of how difficult being successful at both is, is that out of the companies which scored higher than Rocket on the originator survey, only Bank of America is on the servicer list at No. 5 with a 649 score.

Guild is on both lists as well, but well down on the originator side at No. 13.

The 2024 Originator survey list had 22 eligible companies to be scored. Mr. Cooper's position on the originator list, where it is No. 21, is on a relative basis lower than where it appears on the servicer side.

Others on both lists include Chase, PNC, New American, Citizens, U.S. Bank, Loandepot, Freedom, Newrez, Truist, Crosscountry and Pennymac. All had higher originator scores than servicer scores.