customer service representative

call center representative

business analyst

management analyst

internal auditor

Cenlar FSB

A Review from a Previous Employee:

Under-educated, Under-Experienced, Ill-Managed (and that's just the management ). 

This company prides itself on being "an employee owned company", yet they are all about self. Their customer service department is managed by a bunch of emasculating, over-bearing, fat, envious women and soft-spoken, emasculated, "keep your head tucked low", smile in your face but really hate the job just as bad as you, men. 

Most of the managers there don't have a college degree background, they just "worked" their way up the ranks from customer service rep, to ops supervisor, to service leader and in some cases call center manager. And are threatened and intimidated by the young, educated women who come and actually show they know and have what it takes to complete the job. They punish their smartest reps with warnings and vindictive stints to keep them trapped in customer service.  

They literally hire anyone that comes in to the job fairs. The job itself is so depressing that there are temps that are taking anti-depressants just to cope with the unbearable conditions. 

You sit in a dreary cubicle, with supervisors hounding you about unfinished tasks and unrealistic talk times while there are bigger issues that need to be resolved to keep homes from avoiding foreclosure.

The tax vendor would forget to pay property taxes in some cases or pay them late causing some homeowners to have penalty charges. Quite often I have seen cases of possible sheriff's sales all because when the loan was set up we didn't receive a tax bill or bother to check to see which quarter taxes were last paid. 

Even worse is the insurance department ! I have witnessed and heard instances of HORROR STORIES when it comes to insurance. Their sub-contractor, a South Carolina based company, has gone on record for paying the 1) wrong insurance company, causing polices to lapse 2) the wrong amount of insurance premium, causing an advance balance in escrow 3) sending out payments to 2 different ins companies, and not replenishing the shortage caused by the double payment, 4) never updating the Insurance information in an account, therefore never paying the premium to renew The policy, which then results in their current policy being cancelled and then Cenlar force placing insurance for however many months you weren't covered.

The rules and regulations constantly change throughout the day and the only communication you get is via email. There is no value for team work, in fact they encourage you not to consult your peers for help, instead they want you to resort a non-user-friendly manual that's a hyperlink and it's never updated. In other cases you can either try your luck by dialing the assistance/supervisor line which is about the chance you winning the power ball that you'll get a  rep that can give a consistent answer. Most people provide assistance based on their experience with other customers. 

Bottom Line, this is a horrible loan servicer company, which I will thank for providing me an inside look into the mortgage industry practices, all the while scaring me from ever purchasing a home for the very simple 
possibility of it ever being serviced by Cenlar. 

They don't provide adequate training to their employees, and the inter-departmental handlings of crises are nothing but a mere finger-pointing and blame game, until presented with a presidential complaint then everyone wants to play nice. Therefore, that is why you will never get the same answer or response when you call customer service. If that rep took the time to self learn the manual then you may have a shot, otherwise you're dealing with a melting pot of ego, confusion, and the poor peoples of America's mortgages.

The fact of the matter is, the issue will never be resolved when you don't have people who truly care about the welfare of its homeowners. Managing, mentoring, and mitigating. I really do pray and hope change will come for this company.

Let me give you an honest cut throat, no holds barred inside scoop!    Some Operations Supervisors are decent, congenial, & will let you be YOU & let you do your work.  Unfortunately, you are assigned new Supervisors who are new & young (whom have an irritating, idiotic style of management).   I tried to deviate away from all office politics & just did my work the best I could.   Very Unfortunately, I was assigned on a team that was led by a hypocritical, millenial age group Supervisor,  whom would write me up every opportunity /chance he got.  This was hypocrisy at its' finest!  Folks!  Be warned, this is a great company which has a lot of hope & potential.  But it really depends especially in Customer Service Dept.  who your Supervisor is.  That person will make or break you!  I worked here for a few years,  and not ever did I have a Supervisor who would inflict all types of hypocrisies with me, but let it slickly sly by like a snake when it came to others!!!! He thought I didn't notice but the few months that he was my Supervisor,  he did everything in his power to make me look miserable, write me up & for the same reasons not write others up,  this latter part I know for a fact, show favoritism to a proven tee.  I never had any problems until he came along.  My work is super & I know my stuff in this industry.  Some of the management will tell you one thing but do the other.   They monitor you for every miniscule matter, too much over micromanaged Call Center.   Ever since I had a new Supervisor, he would be chit chatting up a storm &  he amongst Supervisors, Service Leaders (a step above Sups.) would be having a good ole' grand ole' time being LOUD & discussing everything about their personal lives from relationship stories, school stories, their financial matters, etc.  -  all at the same time when us  Customer Service Agents are busy on the phone!!!  Everyone has adjacent desks -  so it's extremely disturbing when Management talks up a storm & yet you are with a consumer/ borrower on the phone.  

You will be monitored by your phone log ins,  bathroom breaks, if you get up to get coffee/tea,  internet usage even if you are on a new website (all at the same time management gets away with all this & then some - double standards galore!), new Supervisors like things done their way or the highway, no room for flexibility,  if you're typing notes in on phone call and it's more than 30 seconds or a minute you get reprimanded, & warned?!?!!???   It's absolutely strange & laughable.   Mind you  work is more accomplished & appreciated when you let employees just do their work.   You also get in trouble if you don't write notes in their mainframe about what pertains to the call.  So does that make any logical sense?   More than a double edged sword, it's actually a triple edged sword if I look at all the angles in which you are controlled over in Call Center.  Even if you are trying to help the consumers, I mean lighten up management, you can't push call time deadlines,  these calls take anywhere from 10 to 15 to 30 or even 50 mins talk times.  The topics are not the easiest and one consumers ask about their taxes, insurance, escrow, & exemptions it is a several minute process.  It can't be concluded or determined by management's ridiculous forecasting methods!

Firstly, because of what’s going on now, I would like to start off by saying that I am appreciative & grateful to Cenlar to be given this position. However, I feel like a “guinea pig” for this company. A lot of us were under the impression that this was a work from home job (we found later during initial training that working from home is temporary.) There are quite a few discrepancies that still needs to be worked out & because of that, it affects our job performance. I just feel they require a lot but fail to compensate for it. I notice the company bombards its employees with a plethora of information (info that tends to change constantly) & then “throws us to the wolves.” I started as a DCC agent (loan counselor) then suddenly they switched the DCC agents to Customer Service. No financial compensation for the sudden change in position & work schedule. Due to the change went, I from having an hour long lunch break to being provided only 30 minutes (they try to make it sound a little better because our paid breaks went from 10 mins to 15 mins.)  We were not given even a week to learn & understand the position (4 days) before being thrown over into the new department. I feel that is dangerous seeing as we are responsible for these peoples’ well beings. I’ve worked for a prior call center & when I changed departments, they compensated me for it. Also, Cenlar does not pay in accordance to our prior call center experience. The training is “so so” & doesn’t aid in me feeling confident when it’s time to get on the phone & assist borrowers. This has caused more concern, uneasiness, & stress than I expected. The supervisors do encourage us to ask questions & I understand they have a team beyond just myself they must assist, but when it does come time for me to receive information, I’m given either inaccurate info or told to reference things I’ve already referenced prior to asking them for help prolonging my call time on the phone (this does not happen all the time, but enough for it to be considered a problem.) My supervisor asks if I can come into the center for more assistance. I appreciate the offer, but it’s like me informing them of me having a preexisting condition which prevents me from coming in goes in one ear & out the other, yet I have still risked my well being a few times to arrive to receive more help. They’re very communicative, but I feel a lot of the information we receive is very contradicting. I still try to the best of my capabilities out of respect & empathy for our customers because I truly do care about them & I know they depend on us; especially during this trying time. Our borrowers need & expect us to be knowledgeable, accurate in our information, performance, & it just doesn’t seem to come off that way; even the borrowers notice this. There are supervisors that come off as confused at times as the new employees. One of the nice things is they provide incentives depending on performance, but what’s a free tv, headphones, or $25 gift card when the hourly pay can barely pay one’s rent? I feel if you can afford incentives, then surely you can afford to pay your workers a little better. I haven’t been with the company long & I’ve witnessed quite a turnover. I have other concerns but I’ll just end it here....Overall, I feel the job isn’t bad, but the experience, the pay, & the company’s performance could be better so that myself & the rest of the employees can also be better. 

Cenlar is the total opposite of working in corporate America.  At no time while I was at Cenlar did I ever feel that the company had any clue on how to run a business professionally.  My very first indication was with the Human Resources Department.  I originally went to one of the many open house events where they "pretend" to do pre-screening of potential employees.  I don't think that any of the HR personnell actually have any HR experience.  I was told when I was hired by one of the "HR" reps that I had been hired for a Client Specialist position which was more in line with my background of Account Management.  While in the training (this is the only positive area in my description of this company) I was told that I was actually hired as a Customer Service Rep., that was my first issue with Cenlar.  Once they push you through the training, you are put on a "team" believe me, there is no "team" atmosphere at this company, you are given a cube the size of a rat hole that I am told is modeled after many call centers.  You get the screw face if you are not one of the chosen few on your team that kisses up to your manager, if you stand up, talk to other employees or have a strong personality...the feel "challenged".  

This job would work well as a part time job.  When you are on the phone for 8 hours with customers that are yelling at you, calling you names and threatening you (and your only recourse is to transfer them to a supervisor--who don't answer the phone) it makes you wonder who is running the asylum.

The positive portion of this job has nothing to do with the job. I met some awesome people in my training class that I hope will continue to be a part of my life.

If you don't have a mortgage you learn about mortgages from the customer complaints, The training is good but out of date, They use a manual that changes daily and is disregarded depending on the client or how much the customer complains.

Cenlar is the worst mortgage servicing company, they use unreliable third party sourcing companies for the distribution of taxes and insurance. On many occassions customers have called in tears or totally irrate because their taxes or insurance was not paid on time or at all. I feel sorry for customers that were mislead through either a new loan or a re-financed loan then have to deal with a customer service rep that can only spend 6 minutes to try to resolve all of the issues that a loan originator had promised. If you have a mortgage, make sure Cenlar is not servicing your mortgage...refinance immediately!

I was recently hired at Cenlar and was due to start their April 2nd training class for collections. My employment was contingent on a background check and drug screening per usual. I provided all the info I could about past employers some were out of business but I still was able to provide information on those companies to verify my employment. The lady from the background company they hired was very incompetent and rude. She sent me an email basically calling me a liar saying one of the companies on my resume didn’t have record of me past or present.  However being that it (my employment) was prior to 7yrs ago they destroyed the records but still had my name on a spread sheet and were able to verify I worked there. After calling them myself and clarifying that they never said they didn’t have any record of me the woman from the background check company stated that another number I gave her for an alternate employer was disconenected. So once again I went to their website (previous employer) cross referenced the numbers gave her the correct number AGAIN as well as the web address and spoke with the receptionist to verify that they indeed still had me on file. However the background company  insisted the number was wrong and that i now needed to obtain W2s from the IRS to prove I worked for a company 7+ years ago. All the while I’m relating this info to the recruiter and HR and no one is really saying anything just asking me to get info before training. And then last but not least I receive a call from a woman at Cenlar who stated a charge from 2006 came up on my background check and she needs to know the “disposition” so I have to call the police department and acquire some additional paperwork which I never got bcus I called the PD several times and got voicemails and endless transfers. Two weeks after receiving my offer letter Cenlar rescinded it stating I failed to get them back the requested information and that I never informed them of my progress although i have emails that state othwerwise. I informed them my area of expertise is customer service and collections not performing my own background checks and verifying my own employment and that the people who were hired to perform those tasks should be the ones carrying them out. Needless to say I was recently hired on at reputable company who hired me for my ability to perform the job I applied for not someone else’s.

I have been working at Cenlar full-time (More than 3 years)

Pros:
Decent building, steady pay, right off I95

Cons:
Where do I start?
Do not take a job as a customer service representative.
No work-life balance. Eight hours in a cube where you get the same half dozen type of calls.
1. "I want to pay my bill"
2. "I want to sign up for auto-pay."
3. "Why didn't you pay my tax/insurance bill?".
4. "Why did my payment go up?"
5. "I can't log into the web site"
6. "GRR! You lost my mortgage payment"

Tedious work, sprinkled with angry callers
No communication with the subcontractor companies that pay taxes or insurance bills except by email.
Company always screwing with your schedule. "we need to cut your lunch by fifteen minutes"
Wacky schedule. Sometimes they scheduled my lunch two hours before the end of my shift.
Schedule you to work on a holiday.
Sit in your cubical all day taking endless calls with little to no interaction with your co-workers. Been there for years and never have spoken to some on my team.
Bee-hive work environment
Constant call monitoring and pointing out every little mistake in the call.
You have a script that you have to follow to the letter. God forbid if you say "would" instead of "could".
  And you never have a meeting with your supervisor concerning raises. You have to monitor your paychecks online at ADP.com. I checked mine and I realized I hadn't got a raise in over a year. I asked my supervisor to find out why. I was told that it was because I had missed six days in two years. They didn't have the decency to have a meeting to discuss it.
 I could go on and on but I'll close with this, and it's the absolute truth;
there is a stated policy that if you forget your badge to get into the building, you have to call your supervisor to let you in. Now, here is the crazy part; we're told if we forget our badges and need to leave our cube, we need to be escorted by a supervisor anywhere in the building during the workday. Need to go to the restroom? Call your Supervisor to escort you! I AM NOT KIDDING! This is an example of the mentality with this company.
My advice to prospective job seekers: only if you need a job right away to hold you over until you find a better job. Please seek a job elsewhere.
Why do I work here, you ask? I'm a older person ready to retire and can't get a better job at my age.

Work as a customer service rep. You feel like a worker bee.  You're on a "team" but there really isn't a feeling of being on a team. Just hundreds of faces sitting in their cubes for eight hours, taking calls that are either mundane or frustrating, with the occasional angry screaming customer. You rarely speak to your co-workers because you're constantly taking calls.  You can go through a whole week and hardly speak to any of them. Six weeks of intense classroom training. Near the end of training you start to take live calls and find out that some of your call coaches started just a couple of months before you did.  Low pay for your responsibilities. Work manual that's not user friendly and constantly being updated. Meanwhile, you have a customer on hold while you are scanning the manual to find the right solutions. Oh, and forget about getting help from supervisors. You're on the supervisor queue for five or more minutes waiting to get through.  In the meantime you're expected to have an average call time of six minutes.   Most of the calls relate to problems with real estate tax or insurance bills. The problem is, taxes and insurance are handled by sub-contractor companies and communication with them is strictly by email, no phones calls. An angry customer wanting an answer right now why their bill has not been paid doesn't want to wait around for an email response. 
Then there's Q.A., some who were just hired weeks before you, quickly trained in customer calls, and then listen in on your calls and nit-picking for minor mistakes. "You didn't confirm the customer's email address".  Really, I'm getting dinged for that?   And you're expected to end all calls with the scripted "My goal today was to provide you with excellent customer satisfaction.  Have I achieved that goal?".   I actually had customers laugh at me when I said that, asked me if I read that off a card, or wondered who's idea was ending a call like that. Overall, it's a transitional job that you take until something better shows up. A job, not a career.

I went through training it about 40 or so people and about a year later only about 7 people are still here. The company claims after a year you can get promoted, now that is a lie. At one point in order to get promoted one needed a score of the annual review of a 3.0 now they changed it to a 3.25. So now after being there a year and a 3.0 now I have to wait until evaluations again and get a 3.25 in order to move up. I have seen people who produce less numbers and get promoted and out of customer service. It is pretty sad that I have to contemplate leaving a company that I have committed a year to in order to get to a different position. At the interview they promote the fact that one can get out of customer service after a year and in to another department. It is a fairly large company but customer service is like factory work. One is constantly on the phones taking call after call and if you have to follow up with a person, good luck because the call volume is so high research is constantly cancelled. Often there are repeat calls because reps if they do not know an answer they will the wrong answer and the homeowner will call back often until they get an experienced rep who will provide them with the correct information. It is very frustrating since many new reps are given little training and provide constant in correct info to homeowners and then you have to deal with an upset homeowner since they finally get the correct info and it is not pretty info. Management is a joke in customer service, quality walks around on their phones and tells you that it is not allowed on the floor but they have it out. If calls are not coming in they expect you to just wait for a call and you cannot do anything else or it is a problem. Many god managers have left and advised me to do the same since the company in terms of employee satisfaction is going down. If I cannot get out of this department soon, I may have to follow their lead which is very sad since I am pretty knowledgeable.

It was great when I started a year ago, but now it's a nightmare! Local management is leaving, co-workers aren't even putting in a year before they bail! We've lost half our training classes before they hit the floor! We have way too many people out sick because we're worn out from constant mandatory OT, or just need mental health days.  They are constantly asking us to stay late, work weekends and holidays and want us to commit to so much OT every week/month. We never know when our lunch is going to be, or how long it's going to be because it changes almost every day.  Our schedules change overnight with no warning sometimes. They won't adjust your schedule, even with a week or more notice, so you can go to a doctor appointment. You have to use sick time and if you don't have it, you take the time unpaid. I've never worked anywhere like this! If I had known it would be like this, I never would have taken the job!

They claim they're all about "World Class Customer Service" but all they really care about is 6 minute call times and 30 second notating. Other departments don't have follow through, so it takes months to solve a customer's problem, if it gets solved. Customers are mad and it's embarrassing. Upper management thinks they are doing a great job and it's all our fault for taking too long to solve a customer's issue.  They rag on us constantly about call and wrap-up times, but hardly ever about quality, but we don't get regular feedback about that, just call time.  

People are tired of it and they are leaving, even if it means a drop in pay, just to get out. One of the most disappointing places I've ever worked and I can't wait to get out. If I could quit this week, I would.

It pays decent for sure, but it has a horrid micromanaging issue that really soils the overall work experience. Getting help is not always easy. They sack people for things they cannot control. Management will have a lot of meetings, and perhaps a lot of other things going on, so it may hamper them from being there when you need them. But what I have noticed, is when it is time for micromanagement, they are there in a lightning flash. This particular downside is what really chops the creditworthiness of this particular employer as a whole. There are some good people working there, but much of the upper management want you to be robotic and they will ding you in quality assurance for the tiniest micro fissure. This creates an overall stressful and anxious work environment where you never really know if your job is stable or not because at times, management will blame you for system issues that are not your fault or personal life issues that you cannot control. The previous mortgage company I worked at had a far better, more cognitive centralized system of operations and a culture of non-micromanagement. They also claimed to have a system of verbal, written, and final warnings before terminating, That's yet did not use them(, impulsive turnaround dynamics). This standard became Paramount for me, and I sincerely hope that cenlar steps it up in this particular aspect, because they are very far behind when it comes to all of these factors.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$19.50 per hour
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