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Client Bulletin: June 17, 2022

Cenlar Handily Beats MBA Benchmark for Customer Service

At Cenlar, we are committed to continually improving the homeowner experience, and to making the investments in both people and technologies needed to achieve that objective.

The results of these efforts have become clear, with the kind of progress that is measurable against our peers.

In April, the average homeowner waited only 30 seconds for a call to Cenlar to be answered. That’s almost two full minutes faster than the industry average, according to the latest survey of servicing companies conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Our calls as a percentage of servicing volume in April also beat the industry average. And Cenlar’s average time to reach resolution of homeowner queries was faster than the industry average, according to MBA data.

These numbers reflect both substantial investments and the strengthening of our commitment to “think like a homeowner.” We know that we have an obligation to each and every homeowner. That obligation cannot be forgotten or understated.

We have committed ourselves to anticipating homeowner needs and answering common questions without a homeowner ever needing to pick up the phone. The new Cenlar website, introduced a year ago, has significantly upgraded the information available to homeowners, and improves ease of use as people increasingly grow accustomed to seeking answers online.

Proactive communications help educate homeowners about their loan and answer common questions without the homeowner needing to take any action. Chat bots on our website average 145,000 interactions with homeowners each month, with approximately 80% of those using the bots not needing to speak with a live representative.

“It’s all about allowing homeowners to get what they need, when they need it, in a manner they choose,” said Matt Detwiler, Cenlar’s SVP of Client Management.

We also continue to invest in people and technologies that help make the experience a better one when a homeowner does need to call us. We have been able to retain a core, dedicated group of servicing professionals, while also dramatically improving both hiring and training practices. This, coupled with intelligent call routing, allows homeowners to reach a professional with the ability to handle issues quickly and at the necessary level of complexity. This means we’re able to both pick up the phone more quickly and reach resolution more quickly. Our telephony investments, like a new platform that includes state-of-the-art speech analytics, are key to our ongoing progress on this front.

We’re always striving to provide the quality you and your homeowners expect. To keep moving forward, we regularly survey homeowners seeking quality of service opinions, with almost 50,000 participating to-date. We have improved our inter-departmental communications process, with the Cenlar homeowner experience as a driving motivation.

It is important to us that we are among the best in our industry in any given month. But it is of even greater importance that we improve the service we provide to you and your homeowners, each and every day.

ICYMI: An Update with Cenlar on June 23

Please join us for an update on the latest work being done at Cenlar. Leaders will share the progress we’ve made in hiring, on our technology plan and migration to the Cloud and where we stand with digital adoption and innovation at Cenlar.

WHEN: Thursday, June 23 at 3 p.m. ET

WHERE: To access the call, please dial (800) 207-0148 or (646) 828-8082
Participant Code: 686245

Click here to add the call information to your calendar.

David Miller, Executive Vice President, Business Development, and Matt Detwiler, Senior Vice President, Client Management, will host the call. Steven Taylor, Chief Information Officer, and Josh Reicher, Chief Digital Officer, will also be sharing updates.

Please note, this call is for current Cenlar clients only. Although you may forward this invite to interested parties within your organization, please do not forward dial-in details to other third parties. Any information shared on the call is subject to the confidentiality provisions of your respective subservicing agreement.

Generate Your Own Payoff Statements Now in Global Teller

At Cenlar, we strive to continually improve the service we provide to you and your homeowners. As part of these efforts, we’ve been enhancing our digital and self-service options so that our clients and homeowners can get the help they need, when they need it.

Clients will soon be able to request a payoff for a homeowner with just a couple of clicks within our Global Teller portal. The feature, scheduled to go live on Sunday, June 19, will enable you to retrieve a digital payoff quote in Global Teller’s document center in as little as 30 minutes after submitting a request. This is the fastest self-service option available for payoff requests.

To request a payoff on behalf of a homeowner, you only need to click the “Request Payoff” option on Global Teller, and enter the loan number, payoff date and your contact phone number. You can submit a request for standard payoffs or HELOCs. The payoff quote will be added to the “View/Print Documents” area of Global Teller.

The existing 1-877-7PAYOFF phone line remains active, although we encourage use of this new self-serve option to obtain fastest service. Some loans will still require payoffs to be generated manually, including those in bankruptcy or foreclosure and those with pre-payment penalties or with force placed insurance.

An updated Client Support Options matrix that reflects the addition of this enhancement can be found in the Support section of CenAccess.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your client manager.

Vice President of Enterprise Architecture & Quality Assurance Girish Jain Speaks At 2022 Financial CIO Executive Leadership Summit

Vice President of Enterprise Architecture & Quality Assurance Girish Jain recently spoke at the 2022 Financial CIO Executive Leadership Summit on June 9 at the Harvard Club in New York City.

Hosted by HMG Strategy, the conference brought in distinguished business technology and security leaders together to discuss the pressing leadership, innovation, strategic, cultural, technology and career challenges and opportunities that they face today—and into the future.

Girish was part of a three-panel conversation on “Mapping Your Leadership Competency.”

The discussion touched on a number of talent management topics, including how leadership can provide a better culture to attract and engage employees.

“You can’t tell employees or candidates that a company has good culture unless leadership is able to reflect it,” Girish said.

The panel also discussed the evolving world of technology and how digital transformation is providing for a better client and user experience. As more companies advance their technology, they are looking to attract more technical talent to work on cutting edge tools.

Lastly, Girish discussed how mentorships, leadership development and training and development are important in nurturing talent internally, as well as how a good work-life balance and virtual work opportunities with enhanced IT capabilities all provide for higher employee satisfaction.

Updates to Borrower FAQ on CenAccess

As we’re always striving to improve the quality of information we share with you and your homeowners, we’ve recently tweaked a handful of answers within the Borrower FAQ on CenAccess. Specifically, we have revised our responses to topics about escrow surplus, escrow shortage, updating homeowner insurance company information and how to confirm payment for both homeowner insurance premiums and taxes.

The Borrower FAQ can be found on CenAccess.

Continued Preparations for LIBOR’s Expiration

LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) is set to expire in June 2023. In preparation for the date, we’ve already asked all our partners not to board any new lines or loans using the LIBOR index, effective June 1, 2022.

We will continue to communicate with you periodically about this important change as LIBOR’s expiration date nears.

Why discontinue the LIBOR index?

The index is being phased out by the financial industry and federal government agencies, due to concern that it could be vulnerable to manipulation.

What will Cenlar use in place of LIBOR?

Cenlar continues to monitor the industry and government agencies to identify an appropriate replacement index. In keeping with government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and most other financial institutions and regulators, Cenlar has begun to consider the potential use of the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) for HELOCs and ARMs. Unlike LIBOR, which relies on the subjective judgment of a panel of banks, SOFR is based on objective market data — the cost of transactions in the market for overnight Treasury repurchase agreements. According to one report in the Wall Street Journal, companies, banks and traders have said they picked SOFR in part because its stability during the COVID-19 market swings demonstrated that SOFR is robust enough to support large numbers of financial arrangements. Fannie Mae has yet to make a final decision regarding a replacement index, and we continue to monitor the situation.

Next steps

While LIBOR doesn’t expire for most products until June 2023, we want to help assure a seamless transition to the new index. Unless you notify Cenlar about specific direction on a replacement index for loans tied to the LIBOR index, we will make a formal decision to use the SOFR index as a replacement for all ARM loans that we currently service before Q4 2022. You can expect to hear from us again at that time. Please note that additional costs could apply should you decide to use a replacement index different from the financial industry’s preferred index.

If you have any questions, please contact your client manager.

Juneteenth Observance

Cenlar will be closed on Monday, June 20, 2022 in observance of Juneteenth. Any files received on Monday, June 20 will be processed the night of Tuesday, June 21. Output will be available the morning of Wednesday, June 22.