Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
You must register your account using the appropriate link below prior to accessing your account online. You will need your Social Security Number / TIN and Loan Number to complete the registration process.
Residential Login — Commercial Login — Vehicle Lease Login
Please contact us using our online contact form if you have difficulties logging in or questions when you do.
You must complete the following registration procedures in order to access your account online.
- Step One: Click on the blue “Register – First Time Users Must Register” link found in the bottom left section of the login page.
- Step Two: Enter your Social Security Number / TIN and your Centennial Lending loan number.
- All borrowers listed on a loan may log in to the new system by entering their SSN / TIN and registering for online account access.
- Centennial Lending loan numbers currently contain a hyphen. Moving forward this hyphen will be removed.
(Example: Current Loan Number 12-34567. New Loan Number 1234567)
- Step Three: Create a new username and password.
- Step Four: Enter your preferred email address.
- Step Five: You will then receive an activation email at the email address you provided. You will need to access this email to complete your registration.
- Step Six: Once you have confirmed your email address you will be asked to create three security questions.
You will have full access to your online account once these steps have been completed.
Please call us immediately (720-494-2740) if you are having difficulty registering or have questions or concerns once you do. We are here to help.
In order to access all of the residential loans linked to the same SSN/TIN you simply need to complete the registration process using one of your loan numbers. The system will use this information to pull all of your loans. To switch between loans simply click on “Change Loan” which can be found in the blue menu bar. The system will then display a list of all of your loans, including loan number, date of note, principal balance, and property address.
In order to access all of the commercial loans linked to the same SSN/TIN you need to complete the registration process using one of your loan numbers. Once logged in, click the “Change Loan” button which appears on each detail page and follow the instructions to register the remainder of your commercial loans. You will then have access to all of your commercial loans when logging in.
Centennial Lending offers a number of payment options and continues to work toward offering even more convenient ways for you to make your payment.
The easiest way to make your payment is through a recurring ACH transaction. This option utilizes your bank account number and routing number to automatically draw payments from the account you designate. You can establish a recurring ACH payment by logging into your online account, by completing the authorization form at the time of your loan closing, or anytime thereafter by contacting Centennial Lending using our online contact form or sending an email to servicing@centennial-lending.com. You may also schedule a one-time ACH payment by logging into your online account.
Changes to your recurring ACH payment must be made in writing and should be sent to servicing@centennial-lending.com. We will not update ACH information over the phone.
Logging in is as easy as clicking on your loan type:
Residential Login — Commercial Login — Vehicle Lease Login
Alternatively you may mail your payment, drop your payment in our secure night drop, or utilize your primary financial institution’s online bill pay system. Centennial Lending partners with more than 100 credit unions all whom offer some form of online bill payment.
Please note, we no longer accept cash payments.
Tax information can be accessed by logging into your online account. Please click here if you need assistance logging in. Alternatively you can request tax information via email.
The simplest way to update your contact information is by logging into your online account. You will need your account number and password in order to login. Click on your loan type below to begin.
Residential Login — Commercial Login — Vehicle Lease Login
Once logged in click on the “Contact” button in the top menu. Select your preferred method of receiving a confirmation, include your updated contact information in the text box, and click submit. We will update your contact information provide a confirmation using your preferred method.
Alternatively, you may click the Contact Us button and complete the “Write To Us” form. Complete the form, select Update Contact Information from the “Interest” drop down menu, include your new contact information in the “How may we help?” text box, and click submit. We will update your contact information and send you a confirmation via email.
As a last resort, you may provide your new contact information via traditional mail.
Centennial Lending requires written/emailed requests prior to updating contact information. We will not update contact information over the phone.
Keeping your contact information up to date ensures you receive important loan information and documents in a timely manner. Centennial Lending does not sell your information and rarely sends promotional information.
Absolutely! Our services are available to all consumers. Some products may require that you become a member of one of our partner credit unions but the process is generally integrated into the standard loan process.
Residential Mortgages
Interest rates fluctuate for a number of reasons, including inflation, economic growth, and Federal Reserve policy. Modest inflation rates generally lead to lower interest rates, while higher rates of inflation often result in increasing rates. The Federal Reserve implements policy intended to keep inflation and interest rates stable.
Changes to mortgage rates are difficult to predict. No one can tell you with certainty if or when to lock your rate. Locking your rate may make sense if you believe rates will increase prior to closing. Alternatively, you may want to allow your rate to float if you believe rates will go down prior to closing. If you choose to lock your rate, your Centennial Lending loan officer will help you determine the appropriate lock period.
An appraisal is used to determine the value of the property being purchased or refinanced. Appraisers and appraisal reports are subject to government regulations. These regulations are designed to ensure the competency of appraisers, reports are complete and accurate, and financial institutions act responsibly. Regulations require a copy of the appraisal be delivered to the borrower no less than three days prior to closing, but Centennial Lending provides a copy of the appraisal as soon as it has been received and reviewed.
Appraisers generally complete an interior and exterior inspection of the property. Once the inspection is completed the appraiser will compare the qualities of the subject property to recently sold “comparable” properties. Appraisers focus on square footage, location, lot size, number of rooms, design, etc., and adjust the value of the subject property based on how the quality compares to the comparable properties. In the case of an investment or multi-family property the appraiser will also consider potential rental income. Finally, the appraiser assigns a value.
The appraised value may match the contracted sales price. The contracted sales price is a great indicator of market value as it represents the amount a buyer is willing to pay, and a seller willing to accept, for the property. Alternatively, the appraiser’s evaluation may result in an appraised value greater or less than the contracted price.
No. In this event, Centennial Lending will use the lesser of the appraised value or purchase price to determine the down payment requirement. While purchasing a home for less than the appraised value is generally beneficial for the buyer, Centennial Lending does not consider “instant equity” when evaluating mortgage applications.
You can use borrowed funds as a down payment so long as the funds are secured by an asset you own. For example, a vehicle or second home. If you decide to use borrowed funds as down payment you must include the details of the loan in the “Liabilities” section of your application.
Mortgage insurance provides borrowers the opportunity to purchase a home with less than 20% down payment by protecting the mortgage lender in the event of default. Down payments as low as 3% are possible when mortgage insurance is purchased.
On conventional loan types federal regulations require termination of
mortgage insurance when the loan balance has been paid down to 78% of the original property value.
Depending on the exact loan type mortgage insurance may be cancelled prior to that time or may remain in place for the life of the loan. Your Centennial Lending loan officer can provide additional details to which mortgage insurance option best aligns with your specific situation.
A credit score is a numerical value based on payment history, outstanding balances and credit utilization, length of credit history, types of credit, new credit and number of inquiries.
Credit scores, which are calculated by a credit bureau or credit agency, are a reliable indicator of the likelihood a borrower will repay their debts as agreed. Centennial Lending considers many factors when evaluating mortgage applications. While credit scores are an important factor, we never evaluate an application without considering a borrower’s overall financial situation.
There are no prepayment penalties and you may pay off your mortgage at any time without additional charges.
FHA and VA generally have lower down payment requirements than conventional loans because they are administered and insured by the federal government. Both programs have specific and unique features, so it’s best to contact your Centennial Lending loan officer to determine which program is best for you.
A manufactured home is defined as a housing unit built on with a steel undercarriage (chassis) that remains as a structural component and limits the structure to a single story. There are many important factors used to determine if a manufactured home qualifies for financing. Please contact us for additional details.
Factory-built housing such as modular, prefabricated, panelized, or sectional housing which are not built on a chassis are considered “single family homes.”
Centennial Lending generally requires between two and four years having passed since your bankruptcy or foreclosure was discharged, dismissed, or completed. Exceptions may be made depending on extenuating circumstances, but in any case, you must have reestablished positive credit history in order to be considered for a mortgage.
Q. Do I have to provide information about my child support, alimony, or separate maintenance income?
This information is NOT required but can be provided if you want these funds considered when evaluating repayment ability.
A closing agent will represent Centennial Lending at the closing. Your Centennial Lending loan officer will contact you prior to closing to answer any last-minute questions and review your final closing documents. You can also request to speak to your Centennial Lending loan officer during the closing if our agent is unable to answer your questions.
Automated (ACH) Payments
Regulations require first-time automatic (ACH) payments to undergo additional fraud protection resulting in a three-business day account validation period, known as an ACH prenote. This account validation period begins after the date of submission. If the account validation is successful, you can expect your payment to post according to the timeline described below. If any of the provided information is found to be invalid, your payment will not be processed until such time the information is corrected and validated based on the timelines outlined below.
Payments of this type submitted before 3:00 PM (MT) will enter the account validation period the next business day. For example, a first-time ACH payment submitted at 2:30 PM on a Monday would enter the account validation period on Tuesday. In this case, the payment would post on Friday, three full business days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) following the submission date.
Payments of this type submitted after 3:00 PM (MT) on Monday will be entered into the system on Tuesday. The account validation period will begin on the following business day, Wednesday. In this case, the payment would post the following Monday, after three full business days (Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday).
Please note, payments using NEW account information are treated as first-time ACH payments.
Payments of this type submitted before 3:00 PM (MT) will post the same business day. Payments of this type submitted after 3:00 PM (MT) will post the following business day.
Please note, payments made using NEW account information are subject to the first-time ACH payment process.
Hardship Support
Borrowers affected by hardship have a variety of options, including forbearance and modification. Please complete and submit our online contact form or email us at wehelp@centennial-lending.com if you are unable to make your next mortgage payment. A Centennial Lending representative will contact you within two business days to discuss your specific situation.
You may also call 800-569-4287 or click here to visit the Department of Housing and Urban Development to access additional information and resources.
Generally, you should apply for a forbearance of payment before the payment is due. It takes 7-10 business days to evaluate and approve your forbearance request. Centennial Lending understands we are dealing with extraordinary circumstances and will do everything within our power to assist you.
Your forbearance will take effect upon approval which generally takes between 7-10 business days from the time of application. Failure to submit your forbearance request in a timely manner may result in a delay in approval to the following payment due date.
We recommend borrowers utilize our online contact form or email us at wehelp@centennial-lending.com. Alternatively, you may call contact us 720-494-2740. Generally speaking, borrowers calling during normal business hours are able to speak to someone immediately
Calculators
Centennial Lending offers a number of tools to help you select the product that is right for you. Simply click on the appropriate calculator below and enter your details. Please contact us if you have additional questions about our products and services.
eStatements
Regulations require borrowers receive specific information about their mortgage loan on a monthly basis. In the past, the entirety of this information was contained on the payment coupon provided by Centennial Lending. Unfortunately, our new system produces a payment coupon which lacks some of this information. As a result, we now need to provide a monthly statement to all our borrowers. eStatements are the most secure and efficient way to do so.
These same regulations require borrowers to actively sign up for eStatements and we must maintain a record of this activity. While we understand this is an inconvenience, we believe in the long-term value of the new system and appreciate your patience and understanding.
eStatements can be viewed by logging into our secure online system. If you wish, you can choose to be notified via email when your monthly statement is ready to be viewed.
eStatements are secure, available sooner than paper statements, can be viewed anytime, and eliminate paper clutter and waste.
The easiest way for you to sign up for eStatements is by using our online system. Detailed instructions follow:
- Step 1: Log in to your account.
- Step 2: Click on “Statement Documents”
- Step 3: Click on “Manage Paperless Statements”
- Step 4: Select “Electronic” which is found next to “Amortized Loan Statement”
- Step 5: Select “NO” next to the sentence beginning with “I would like to opt out of…”
- Step 6: After reading the notice, select “YES” next to the sentence beginning with “I have read the notice…”
- Step 7: Click “Submit”
Feel free to contact us using our online contact form or call us if you have questions, concerns, or need additional assistance signing up.
Escrow Accounts
Your residential mortgage escrow account is used to collect and disperse funds required to cover homeowner’s insurance, property taxes, and private mortgage insurance expenses.
Your monthly mortgage payment includes extra funds to pay for your annual insurance and property tax expenses. These funds are deposited into your escrow account and periodically withdrawn, by Centennial Lending, to pay these expenses. Your escrow account balance changes as these deposits and withdrawals occur, but must not drop below a federally mandated amount. The amount required to keep your escrow account adequately funded is dependent on
the actual amount of these expenses and directly impacts the amount of your monthly mortgage payment. In most cases your monthly mortgage payment will increase over time to cover the future “shortage” caused by rising insurance and property tax expenses.
Unfortunately, the amount required to cover future expenses is impossible to predict as the information is not available when Centennial Lending adjusts your monthly mortgage payment. Centennial Lending uses the actual expense amount from the previous year to determine the amount required to keep your escrow account adequately funded, but this often results in an escrow funds “deficit” at the end of each year as the property taxes and insurance expenses increase
year-over-year.
The unpredictability of these expenses impacts your monthly mortgage payment in two ways:
- Deficit: The funds required to cover the deficiency from the previous year plus any additional funds required to maintain the federally mandated funding level. Deficits can be paid in a lump sum or broken up and included in your new monthly payment. Paying a lump sum reduces the increase in your new monthly mortgage payment.
- Shortage: The funds required to cover the estimated future cost of insurance and property tax expenses. This amount is automatically added
to your new monthly mortgage payment resulting in an increased payment amount.
This statement describes the amount paid into and out of your escrow account to cover your homeowner’s insurance and property tax expense during the past year. It also projects how much will need to be paid out in the coming year. This statement will also indicate if there was a “shortage” of funds from the previous year, the amount required to cover the projected future “deficit”, as well as a new monthly mortgage payment.
In the event you have a fixed rate mortgage any increase in your monthly mortgage payment is the direct result of an increase in your property taxes and/or property insurance. While we are happy to help explain these changes, we do not have the ability to impact these costs or the amount of money required to fund your escrow account.
Your escrow account is analyzed once per year at which time the amount of required escrow funds is likely to change.
Your payment changes even when the previous year “deficit” is paid in a lump sum because the amount needed in the account to cover the future “shortage” caused by increasing expenses.
Increases in homeowner’s insurance and/or property taxes are unpredictable. While Centennial Lending knows these expenses are likely to increase, escrow fund requirements must be based on actual information from the previous year.
The best way to avoid an escrow funds deficit is to keep track of your homeowner’s insurance premium and your property tax bill. Compare the actual expenses against the projected amount on your Annual Escrow Account Disclosure Statement and adjust your monthly mortgage payment accordingly.
Some expenses come due in the middle of the computation/analysis cycle. When this happens, the “projected” amount to be paid changes to the “actual” amount disbursed.
Property taxes are paid according to the tax district in which your property resides and may be paid quarterly, semi-annually or annually. In the event that Centennial Lending is escrowing for your taxes, we will make sure that your property taxes are paid on time.
Homeowner’s insurance premiums are generally paid once or twice a year. You can log into your online account and review the “escrow” or “history” tab to see when your premiums were paid.
You can log into your online account and click on the “escrow” tab. From here you will be able to see when bills are due and when they have been paid. You can also look at your “history” to see when these items we paid.
Insurance Claims
Please make time to periodically review your homeowner’s insurance coverage to ensure it is sufficient to rebuild in the event of unexpected loss. Property values and construction costs continue to rise and it is important to have adequate coverage.
An annual review of insurance coverages is extremely important to ensure for adequate protection in the event of loss.
While your insurance agent is the best place to start when evaluating appropriate coverage levels, we are always available to answer questions you might have about your loan or anything else with which we can be of assistance.
In most situations, you will contact your insurance company to file a claim. The insurance company will usually ask that you obtain a quote from a contractor to repair any damage. The contractor will provide an estimate of costs to the insurance company. Once the insurance company approves the scope of work and the costs, they will issue a check for a portion of the cost. Once all work has been satisfactorily completed, the insurance company will issue a check for the remainder.
The insurance check will be payable to you, as the owner, as well as any lien holder(s) listed on the insurance policy. You will need to get the check endorsed by any (and all) lien holder(s).
For smaller projects, Centennial Lending may be able to endorse the insurance check and allow you to pay your contractor directly, documents will still need to be obtained.
For most projects, including those projects with a larger scope, guidelines require that we hold the funds in an escrow account on your loan and make periodic payments to you as work is being completed. The disbursements would be payable to you and the contractor.
In order to open the escrow account for the insurance claim we will need the following items:
- Endorsed check(s)
- Copy of the insurance claim (all pages provided by insurance company)
- Signed copy of the contract(s), from the licensed contractor of your choice, including an itemized list of work to be completed.
Centennial Lending will only release funds from your escrow account with written authorization from you, combined with a bill. We pay you or you and the contractor directly, ensuring you do not end up with unpaid liens on your most valuable asset.
- Project Completion: Once all work has been completed to your satisfaction, we ask that you please confirm the work has been completed and provide the final bill from the contractor. The final bill should include the full estimate less any payments or deposits made.
- Inspection: Centennial Lending will send an independent third-party to confirm completion of work in accordance with insurance adjuster breakdown. Centennial Lending pays the $40 cost of inspection.
- Final Payment: After Centennial Lending confirms completion of the work, a final check will be paid to you and or you and the contractor.
- Left-over funds: Should funds be left-over after all work has been completed, the funds will be returned to you as long as the loan is current.
Centennial Lending Offers a Variety of Residential Mortgage Products
