CFPB Releases New Report Exploring Differences between Large and Small Mortgage Servicers

Washington, D.C. –The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) released today a report examining the differences between large and small mortgage servicers. The report explores the role servicers of different sizes play in the mortgage market where size is defined by the number of loans serviced. Because of differences in the resources, capabilities, customer base, and business models of financial institutions of varying sizes, the impact of consumer finance regulations can vary as well.  

The report finds that smaller servicers, such as community banks and credit unions, play an outsize role in rural areas, that the loans they service are less likely to be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or to be government-backed, and that during the financial crisis they experienced lower delinquencies.

Key findings in the report include: 74 percent of borrowers with mortgages at small servicers said having a branch or office nearby was important in how they chose their mortgage lender, compared to 44 percent at large servicers; delinquency rates on loans at servicers of all sizes increased substantially starting in 2008, but peak delinquency rates were much lower for small servicers than for large and mid-sized servicers; and smaller servicers have a greater share of mortgages in non-metro or completely rural counties.

A link to the report may be found here: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/data-point-servicer-size-mortgage-market/

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit www.consumerfinance.gov.