There have been many changes in the mortgage industry over the course of the last few years, but perhaps one of the biggest changes is yet to come. Soon, mortgage servicers will undergo Fannie Mae’s “Know Your Options Customer Care” training as a way to create better relationships between lenders and homeowners.
Call center employees arguably spend the most time answering questions from concerned and frustrated homeowners, and the hope is that this customer care training will create a form of quality control so borrowers can expect consistent customer service. After a massive wave of foreclosures in recent years, their new program will also help servicers better explain foreclosure prevention options to struggling home owners.
Adds Leslie Peeler, SVP of Fannie Mae’s National Servicing Organization, “What we’ve learned through the housing crisis is that if everybody takes the responsibility to work together and act early, then we can prevent foreclosures and keep families in their homes in many cases. We want our servicers to be trusted counselors to their customers, from attentively collecting documents to advising them of their options and guiding them through the process.”
Fannie Mae has already implemented the program with 18 of its largest servicers, and those who have participated in the training say they have a 20-30% increase in workouts with their homeowners.
