The mortgage servicer company I worked with was frustrated with the custodian’s tracking system. Frequently the servicer company would inquire about where the documents were located and the custodian couldn’t tell them. The firm of mortgage custodians felt they had a good process for identifying and retrieving documents and didn’t want to hear complaints from the servicer. Nancy, the custodian CEO, told me, “Those mortgage servicers are never happy, no
matter what we do!” In time, however, this servicer got a bad reputation among closers and lenders. It seemed that every time there was a closing and this particular company was involved, documents arrived late—causing late closings, scheduling nightmares, and angry buyers and sellers.Gradually closers and lenders started to avoid this servicer.

When I discussed the issue with Bob, the servicer CEO, he said the custodian was trying to drive them out of business. I thought this was a bit paranoid—especially since Nancy, the custodian leader, had told me several times she had tried to improve the situation between the two groups. But, Nancy said, “mortgage servicers just aren’t interested in partnering to fix the process.”