While buying a home can be an exciting moment in the lives of many, it's also a stressful one – the purchase is often the most expensive of a lifetime.
That said, once people take the dive into home ownership, they want to know their payments will be handled safely. That's why many people are livid over a recent cyberattack of the third largest mortgage company in America.
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Mr. Cooper COOP, which was previously known as Nationstar before changing its name in August 2017, announced on Nov. 2 in a post on its website that it was the victim of a cyberattack that took place on Oct. 31. In response, the company locked down its system and was unable to accept mortgage payments for several days, leading to angry customers taking to social media to protest the problem.
@pearlmania500 Their stock price is up 3.52% since their payment system was shut down. #realestateagent #realestateinvesting #itsgettingworse #pearlmania500 #mortgage #rent #landlord #hack #tech what mortgage means in french.
♬ original sound - Pearlmania500
Nothing to see here, just one of the largest mortgage lenders has been cyber attacked and no one can pay their mortgages.
— Frankly Frank (@CastiglioneFrnk) November 3, 2023
Has the escrow been compromised? Customer bank account info? 🤔 Why isn’t this HUGE news? 🧐 #mrcooper pic.twitter.com/aWtqIitkfE
However, other folks came forward to explain more about how the incident could impact customers, including an escrow specialist who said he had been instructed how to handle the situation and reassuring viewers their money would be just fine.
@mr.title.escrow Recently, one of the larger loan, servicer and originators in the nation, Mr. Cooper experienced a cyber attack. This will most likely create issues with pending loans, mortgage payments, and payoffs with Mr. Cooper.#titleinsurance #escrow #escrowofficer #utah #mrcoopercyberattack #cyberattack
♬ original sound - Mr. Title & Escrow
On Nov. 6, Mr. Cooper updated the announcement on its website to inform customers that they would not be subject to fees, penalties, or negative credit reporting, and that it was now able to take payments again in a variety of ways, including by phone, online, mail, Western Union, and MoneyGram.
However, Mr. Cooper has not announced the specifics of the attack or what customer data was exposed as of yet, simply saying in its statement, "We are actively investigating this event to determine if any data has been compromised. If customers are impacted, they will be notified and provided with identity protection services."
Mr. Cooper is based in Dallas and currently serves 4.3 million customers.
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