Although most respondents to the survey showed satisfaction with primary banks (81 percent), many expressed frustration that could push them to find a lending alternative. Top on the list of gripes: “slow execution.” More than half of consumers say the process needs to be faster. Others cited difficulty with communications, inability to track the status of the application and even untrustworthy advice.

“I think they trust good service, word of mouth and experience, and when they get those things, the survey shows, it’s less about them being a bank and more about reaching the values that are core to them. That’s trust, service and price,” adds Hautop.

Familiarity is also a driving factor.

Most banking is done online today, with many consumers rarely if ever going into a retail bank. These same consumers are making weekly trips to discount retailers. As the mortgage market now shifts from a largely refinance trade to purchase applications for a home, banks need to take that level of exposure and the information about a captive audience and translate that into increasing market share.

Read More:(Fannie, Freddie Place Evictions on Hold for the Holidays)

Warehouse giant Costco got that message last spring, announcing a new mortgage lending program with New Jersey-based First Choice Bank. Costco itself doesn’t lend but gathers quotes from other lenders, so that the customer can comparison shop, essentially a marketing service.

Bottom line, consumers want to trust their lenders again. Retail giants don’t have to deal with the legacy of lending ills uncovered after the housing and mortgage crash. Armed with new federal regulations designed to insure truth, clarity and transparency in lending, consumers now feel more protected when shopping for a mortgage and may be more willing to shop outside the bank.

Read More: Housing Next Year: Prices Will Rise – 2013 Predictions)

—By CNBC’s Diana Olick; Follow Her on Twitter @Diana_Olick and on Facebook.

Questions? Comments? RealtyCheck@cnbc.com

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100001629

Walnut Creek, CA (PRWEB) September 01, 2011

Stokley Properties a Bay Area property management company is announcing an Eviction Protection Program that is being offered to all of their clients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Concord, San Ramon, Brentwood, Martinez and Oakland. They are releasing this program now because of the rise in evictions and the company’s desire to offer a service to their loyal clients.

“This is important because the number of evictions is up due to the current poor economic times we are experiencing. The concerns landlords have these days is how much will evictions cost and how long will they take. Our program takes the worry out of that,” said Joseph Stokley Jr. of Stokley Properties.

People know evictions can happen to any landlord no matter how well the tenant is screened. Circumstances change in people’s lives and sometimes they are not able to pay the rent. This is especially true when people lose their jobs, get a divorce or suffer a serious injury. When they aren’t able to pay the rent they can also find it difficult to find the money to move. When this happens the property owner has to go through a costly procedure of evicting the tenant.

Each month there are thousands of evictions filed in the area and with the real unemployment rate at 16.4 percent there are a lot of people on the edge of being evicted. According to the Contra Costa Times, there has been a 46 percent increase in evictions cases handled by the Bay Area Legal Aid of Oakland in 2009 and 2010.

The Bay Area’s Stokley Properties, serving Concord, San Ramon, Brentwood, Martinez and Oakland, is offering the eviction protection program to clients for the small fee of $10 per month for each unit. This program will cover the cost of all non-jury trial evictions.

“We pay for everything from beginning to end. The landlord will be covered,” Joseph Stokley added.

Stokley Properties believes that this will be a well-received service by their clients during these turbulent economic times being a landlord.

For more information about the company, please visit their website www.stokleypropertieseastbay.net/ to learn more about the announcement. Interested parties may also call them at (925) 658-1415 for any inquiries.

About Stokley Properties

Stokley Properties, Inc. is a licensed Property Management Company and California Real Estate Brokerage Firm. We provide property management services in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties in the San Francisco East Bay Area.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebproperty-management/bay-area/prweb8766112.htm

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/09/01/prweb8766112.DTL

Diana Olick is off today. This post was written by Stephanie Dhue, CNBC Real Estate Producer.

Robo-signing, lost paperwork and wrongful evictions have put mortgage servicers under the gun.

Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson on Tuesday blamed servicers, in part, for stalling a housing recovery: “Homes that should move through the foreclosure process are held up because courts and servicers are concerned that paperwork has not been completed properly.”

To address the problem, lawmakers are considering a national standard for mortgage servicers.

The four largest — Bank of America [ BAC 9.49  -0.32 (-3.26%) ], JPMorgan Chase [ JPM 39.84  -0.60 (-1.48%) ], Wells Fargo [ WFC 27.18  -0.75 (-2.69%) ] and Ally Financial [ ALLY-PB   + (+0.00%) ] — have 60 percent of the servicing market.

The industry is urging caution. Servicers are already subject to a slew of new servicing rules from bank regulators, the FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And more could be on the way, as banks are in settlement talks with states attorneys’ generals.

Faith Schwartz, who heads up the industry-led Hope Now Alliance, says “it is important to understand the wide variety of rules and initiatives already in progress.”

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