I have been a customer of Countrywide Home Loans for several years now and have always felt very comfortable with the quality of service I receive.

In a time when customer service seems to be faltering in many companies, I have never had a problem with Countrywide's employees. They are very familiar with their products and seem to have the authority to assist you, however you may need them.

One great feature that I have always used is their automatic debit system for making your monthly mortgage payment. You can set this up at no charge and can even set the date for the draft to be made from your account, within their limitation, but this is very flexible. I am paid on a semi-monthly basis, with my second pay period falling on the busiest day of the month in our company. I frequently don't make it to the bank until the first or second of the month. Standardly mortgage payments are due on the first day of the month. This is not a problem for me, because my payment isn't drafted until the tenth day of the month.

On top of making my payments automatically, I receive a monthly statement detailing what portion of my payment was applied to principal, interest, and escrow (for taxes and insurance). The outstanding balance on the mortgage is shown so that you can actual see the balance going down (just a little bit-LOL) each month. The escrow account balance is also shown with the date of disbursement for taxes and insurance shown.

We are fortunate enough to live in an area that is experiencing tremendous population growth. While this may not sound too good at first glance, it has caused our county treasurer to have excess funds. This has caused a tax cut for the previous two years. This has caused some confusion in my escrow account, but Countrywide's employees have worked with me each year, to see that I am not charged too much money as part of my house payment for my tax escrow. By law, the lender is required to analyze you escrow account to make sure that they are not holding greater than two months extra funds. My analysis comes mid year and they always increase my escrows to avoid a potential shortage. This in turn raises my house payment. I always call and explain the tax cut and they go back in and make the adjustments. The first time I did this, the customer service representative said she would order a copy of my tax bill and call me back when it was received, but no later than a certain day. I thought "yeah, right!" and asked for her name and direct number. A few days later, she called, told me what they had done and faxed me a confirmation within minutes of our phone call. I was flat out impressed!

Their web site is easy to navigate and was a real life saver for me when I lost our interest reporting statement at tax time. I simply went to my account and printed a duplicate! That sure saved me a lot of time and frustration.

My only complaint with Countrywide is telephone sales calls. They have many other products that they sell other than just first mortgage loans and they are anxious to let you know about them. I have asked them to remove me from the calling list and have been assured that I would be. But then I got more calls. I finally explained this frustration to one caller and he was kind enough to give me a number to call that would remove me from all of their calling list. And it worked. No calls have been received since I made that phone call.

While I have no intentions of moving, or refinancing my existing loan, I can say that given Countrywide's past record, if I ever need another loan, Countrywide will be my first call.



Recommended: Yes