Mr. Cooper Mortgage Review 2021

Mr. Cooper overview

Mr. Cooper is a non-bank mortgage lender and servicer in the U.S. The company, formerly Nationstar, was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Mr. Cooper offers a wide variety of services, including dedicated and non-dedicated loans and manual underwriting for clients with special circumstances. The lender provides a number of mortgage options, including:

• Home Possible, a program by Freddie Mac geared toward low- to moderate-income borrowers with as little as a 3 percent down payment 
• HomeReady, a Fannie Mae program for low-income borrowers 
• Investment
• Jumbo
• FHA streamline refinance
• FHA fixed and ARM
• Home equity loans
• VA IRRRL, cash-out refinance, fixed and ARM
• Agency jumbo/super conforming
• Non-QM

While Mr. Cooper doesn't have any brick-and-mortar locations, it has a robust web presence where it offers tips and educational articles about the home-buying and mortgage-lending process. There’s also an easy-to-use app that allows borrowers to check the status of their application and make payments from a mobile device. The lender also offers prequalifications and verified approval. Once under contract, Mr. Cooper communicates via online channels, by phone, text and emails throughout the home-buying process. The lender offers a Close on Time Guarantee for those purchasing a new home. If the lender causes a delay in closing, it will send a check equal to the borrower’s full first month’s mortgage principal and interest payment. In addition, Mr. Cooper Real Estate Rewards can match customers to a local real estate agent that will sell their current home at a discounted listing commission. Customers who buy their home using Mr. Cooper Real Estate rewards can receive a Buyer’s Bonus Credit, available in most states. In late 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a multimillion-dollar order to settle claims Mr. Cooper "violated multiple federal consumer financial laws, causing substantial harm to the borrowers whose mortgages it serviced, including distressed homeowners.” At the same time, Mr. Cooper, PNC Bank and U.S. Bank also settled with the U.S. Department of Justice for similar servicing issues.

Loan types

• Home Possible
• HomeReady
• Investment
• Jumbo
• FHA streamline refinance
• FHA fixed and ARM
• Home equity loans
• VA IRRRL, cash-out refinance, fixed and ARM
• Agency jumbo/super conforming
• Non-QM

Lender fees

Mr. Cooper lender fees vary by loan type. In general, origination fees on typical conventional conforming loans are $995 ($1,220 in New Jersey only). Prospective borrowers can get estimates of fees and rates based on inputs (property information, down payment, credit score and other factors) via the Mr. Cooper website.

Minimum borrower requirements

Mr. Cooper abides by the conforming loan requirements for mortgages approved by government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as those backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). While VA loans (available to military veterans, active servicemembers and their families) sometimes offer no-down payment options, the other loans generally require a minimum down payment of 3 percent for conventional loans and 3.5 percent for FHA loans.

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