North Carolina-based BB&T ranked highest in customer satisfaction in JD Power and Associates’ lastest customer satisfaction survey of primary mortgage servicers, the marketing research firm said today. BB&T is a community-banking conglomerate with the core of its operations centered in the South and Midwest regions of the United States. From the press release:

The study finds that while borrowers who have made late payments indicate their lenders are slightly more flexible in scheduling payments, customer ratings for the ability of lenders to understand their specific circumstances and their willingness to work with them declined from the 2006 study … The study finds that there are considerable financial benefits for lenders in delivering higher customer retention rates … doubling the rate of customer retention from the industry average can result in an increase of nearly 3 percent in mortgage servicing valuations, or approximately $38 million for lenders with a $100 billion portfolio.

I believe SunTrust was last year’s top dog — this year, the company rated fifth (still a good showing). Mortgage giant Countrywide rated very highly as well, coming in at fourth. Bringing up the rear were Ocwen and Option One, as well as Litton and EMC.