CENLAR stands for Central Loan Administration and Reporting and provides one main service: loan servicing. In simple terms, Cenlar acts as a middleman between the mortgage lending institutions and the borrowers.
Cenlar is a third-party mortgage service provider, which means they handle the day-to-day tasks of managing a mortgage loan on behalf of the bank, credit union, mortgage company, or any other financial institution. They aim to make the operations of loan providers or investors easy and smooth.
Is Cenlar A Subservicer?
Yes, you can say that Cenlar is a subservicer, and it services thousands and millions of mortgages on behalf of financial organizations, including banks, credit unions, and mortgage bankers. Some administrative services it provides include recording and collecting mortgage payments, handling customer service inquiries, escrow administration, disaster recovery, and several other services throughout the loan lifecycle.
What is Subservicing?
Subservicing in mortgages means that a subservicer, like Cenlar, is hired by a financial institution to handle some or all of the daily administrative tasks related to a loan.
Core elements of Cenlar’s subservicing include:
- Managing monthly mortgage and escrow payments from lenders.
- Keeping accurate records
- Addressing homeowner questions with call assistance or online tools.
- Contacting and reminding homeowners if they miss a payment.
- Ensuring compliance with remittance and reporting.
- Providing loan counseling and assisting with repayment plans if needed.
Cenlar aims to care for homeowners with a high level of service, treating them as their own. Their trained customer service representatives are dedicated to answering questions and providing outstanding service. They also provide homeowners access to online tools for managing their mortgages.
Cenlar additionally manages taxes, insurance, and escrow administration on behalf of clients. This includes collecting and distributing escrow funds, retaining reserves, and using the funds to pay property-related bills when due.
Cenlar FSB serves various financial institutions, including :
Banks
For their bank clients, Cenlar provides dedicated services customized for banks of all sizes. The services cover pretty much everything from onboarding new loans, customer support, sales and acquisitions, private securitizations, reporting, and escrow administration.
Mortgage Companies
With a comprehensive set of servicing programs, Cenlar provides dedicated services to mortgage companies, including special products, regulatory compliance and reporting, sales and acquisitions activities, retention strategies, and support for your warehouse line agreements and acknowledgment agreements.
Credit Unions
Cenlar is a trusted partner committed to providing top-notch member service for credit unions. They offer flexible and customizable solutions tailored to the unique needs of credit union partners. CU Servnet (a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO)), being familiar with the credit union business model, prioritizes caring for members, providing clear information, and offering convenient loan management tools. Their goal is to meet and exceed the service expectations of credit union partners and their members, regardless of size, all at a reasonable cost.
Cenlar’s Focus Areas
- Implementations: Set up new processes and systems.
- Transfer operations: Handle the transition of loan servicing operations.
- Escrow administration: Manage taxes, insurance, and other escrow-related matters.
- New loans: Overlook the onboarding of new loans.
- Client management: Ensure strong relationships with clients.
- Enterprise risk management: Manage risks across business units, ensuring quality and compliance.
- Investor reporting and accounting: Provide accurate financial reporting for investors.
- Customer service: Monitor calls, conduct quality checks, and provide culture training.
- Default services: Collection handling, loss mitigation, foreclosures, and other default-related processes.
- Cash management: Handle cash processing, electronic payments, and account-related transactions.
- Disaster Recovery: Plan and execute strategies for quick recovery after an unexpected event.
FAQs
What Does Cenlar Do?
Cenlar is a subservicer or middle-men who works on behalf of lending institutions like mortgage companies, banks, and credit unions to service their mortgage loans.
Is Cenlar Legitimate?
Cenlar FSB is a federally chartered wholesale bank that is currently serving as the largest subservicer in the US. It manages more than three million mortgage loans for more than 150 financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, and mortgage companies.
Is Cenlar A Mortgage Company?
Cenlar isn’t a financial organization. Instead, it specializes in subservicing mortgages. It works with banks, credit unions, and mortgage bankers to handle the daily administrative tasks associated with mortgage loans.
Does Cenlar Offer HELOC?
No. Cenlar does not offer HELOC as it services loans for mortgage lenders rather than providing the loans itself. However, Cenlar has vast experience in managing HELOC portfolios and a variety of HELOC products.
Is Cenlar A Debt Collector?
No, Cenlar isn’t a debt collector. It’s an entity specializing in servicing mortgages on behalf of various financial institutions.
