B4 • Friday, February 17, 2023
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What mortgage company changes mean Barbara Marquand OF NERD WALLET It’s been a bumpy ride for mortgage companies lately. Some lenders have gone out of business, merged with other companies or narrowed their focus. And more changes are likely in 2023. What does all this mean for borrowers? Here are answers to common questions, whether you’re shopping for a mortgage or paying off a home loan. What’s behind the shakeout? A key factor: higher mortgage rates. Demand for home loans plummeted last year as the Federal Reserve raised a key interest rate to control inflation and mortgage rates spiked in turn. The average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage doubled from near-historic lows in early January 2022 to almost 6.4 percent at year’s end, according to Freddie Mac, an enterprise created by Congress in 1970 to support the U.S. housing finance system. Higher mortgage rates shrink buying power, so elevated rates shut out some prospective homebuyers, already squeezed by eye-popping home prices. And for homeowners who had locked in historically low rates in prior years, the spike removed money-saving incentives to refinance
advisory company based in Greenwood Village, Colorado, projected in an October report that almost 50 mergers and acquisitions would be announced or closed by the end of 2022, a 50 percent jump from 2018, the year with the next-highest number in the past 30 years. And the consolidation trend will likely continue this year. What happens if my mortgage servicer changes: You’ll be notified of where to send your mortgage payments. Your mortgage servicer is the company that processes payments and manages the loan. If the servicing rights are transferred to a different company, generally the old and new serin the industry is the players Guaranty Mortgage Corp. vicers should notify you, work together to make sure case, does not expect to see according to the Consumer that the borrowers thema big wave of mortgage com- Financial Protection Bureau. The notices will tell you selves are not hurt,” he adds. pany bankruptcies. Some mortgage compa“It’s not so bad that you’re when the old servicer will stop accepting payments, going to see the wholesale nies have filed for bankbankruptcies like you saw of when the new servicer will ruptcy or gone out of mortgage originators in 2007 start accepting payments business in the past year. and the new servicer’s conand 2008,” he says. First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. announced June 30, tact information. Read the 2022, that it filed for Chapter What if my lender notices and send payments 11 bankruptcy, for example. merges with another to the new servicer after the And some smaller lenders company? transfer. A merge will have little dihave simply gone out of busiWill other mortgage ness recently. Reali, a real es- rect impact on you. Your business changes tate company with an online loan terms will stay the affect me? same if your lender merges lending arm, said in August with or is acquired by anthat it was shutting down, You’ll still have options if and LenderFi said in an email other company. you’re seeking a mortgage. in the fall that it was leaving Some lenders may change Meanwhile, don’t be surthe mortgage business. the types of loans they offer prised to hear more about Indelicato, whose firm is mortgage company mergers. or focus on different segthe lead counsel for unseStratmor Group, a mortgage ments of consumers. Wells
their mortgages. Unless your primary aim is to cash out some home equity, it doesn’t make sense to refinance to a higher rate. As a result, fewer people applied for mortgages. Mortgage applications to buy homes dropped almost 40% year over year in the last few months of 2022, and refinance applications were down almost 90 percent, according to a December Mortgage Bankers Association forecast report. Higher rates also increased risk for banks and mortgage companies that WILFREDO LEE / ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE buy mortgage loans from lenders. A home with a “Sold” sign is shown on May 2, 2021, in Surfside, Fla. What if my lender goes bust? York. “What I’ve seen so far cured creditors in the First Here’s what would happen: w If the lender that issued your loan goes out of business or goes bankrupt after the mortgage has closed, you’ll be unaffected. The loan terms will stay the same. If the mortgage company that services your loan changes, you’ll be informed of where to send your monthly payments. w If your lender runs into trouble and can’t fund the loan when you’re a week or two away from closing, the company will likely work with you to find another lender, says Mark Indelicato, a bankruptcy attorney and partner with Thompson Coburn Hahn & Hessen in New
Average U.S. mortgage rate increases to 6.32 percent this week ASSOCIATED PRESS The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate jumped this week to its highest level in five weeks, bad news for home shoppers heading into the spring buying season. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate rose to 6.32 percent from 6.12 percent last week. The average rate a year ago was 3.92 percent. The average long-term rate reached a two-decade high of 7.08 percent in the fall as the Federal Reserve continued to raise its key lending rate in a bid to cool the economy and and bring down stubborn, four-decade high inflation. At its first meeting of 2023 earlier this month, the Fed raised its benchmark lending rate by another 25 basis points, its eighth increase in less than a year. That pushed the central bank’s key rate to a range of 4.5 percent to 4.75 percent, its highest level in 15 years. Fed Chair Jerome Powell noted that some measures of inflation have eased, but he appeared to suggest that he foresees two additional quarter-point rate hikes this year. Though those rate hikes do impact borrowing rates across the board for businesses and families, rates on 30-year mortgages usually track the moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing loans. Investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates can also influence the cost of borrowing for a home.
Fargo, for instance, said in January that it would create a “smaller, less complex” home lending business focused on bank customers, as well as people in underserved minority communities. The advice for shopping to get a mortgage remains the same. Look for lenders that offer the types of mortgages you’re interested in and apply with multiple lenders to compare rates and fees. Will mortgage company changes compromise customer service? Not necessarily. Layoffs generally correspond to lower loan volume; there’s less work to go around, so fewer employees are needed. Regardless of what’s happening in the industry, customer service is a key feature to consider when shopping for lenders. Many lenders offer a streamlined online application process. But even with robust digital tools available, you should be able to reach a human to help you through the process. Check customer service ratings online and from companies, such as J.D. Power, a global data and analytics company. And when shopping for lenders, compare how quickly and helpfully they respond the first time you contact them with questions.