Garrett, McAuley & Co., a banking and mortgage banking consulting firm, on Wednesday launched a benchmark measuring mortgage subservicer performance based on feedback from lenders, with results showing a 27-point gap between the highest- and lowest-rated providers.
The PULSE (Performance, Usability & Lifecycle Servicer Evaluation) Subservicer Benchmark surveyed 53 mortgage banking firms nationwide on satisfaction, operational challenges and oversight practices across five categories: service quality, borrower experience, escrow and default handling, recapture and marketing support, and operational friction.
Composite scores ranged from 53 to 80 on a 100-point scale, according to the benchmark, which the advisory firm described as the mortgage industry’s first independent comparison of subservicer performance rated by the lenders that use them.
“Most lenders pick a subservicer based on a pitch deck and a reference call, then never measure the relationship again,” said Steve Stone, managing director at Garrett, McAuley & Co.
Recapture and marketing support received the lowest scores among the five categories. Of the 53 respondents, 45 had 2025 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) filings. These firms collectively left an estimated $12.7 billion in production volume on the table, according to the benchmark.
The survey also found that 25% of respondents had never conducted a formal, independent evaluation of their subservicing relationship. Meanwhile, 56% cited transfer risk and disruption as the primary reasons for staying with their current subservicer, including some firms with satisfaction scores below the median.
The benchmark includes a secure portal for each participating lender, comparing its subservicer’s performance with an anonymized group of peers. The portal provides composite satisfaction scores, comparisons across performance categories, question-level data, operational pain-point rates, peer satisfaction distributions and custodial oversight benchmarks.
The survey also includes an illustrative estimate of recapture opportunities based on public HMDA origination data. Peer subservicers are identified anonymously, and each participating firm’s portal is confidential.
This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.
