Walter was already under the investigative microscope of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission because of its servicing practices.
Nonbank mortgage servicers continued to gradually expand their share of the market during the third quarter of 2014, but the pace has clearly slowed. Nonbank institutions accounted for 27.2 percent of the $7.389 trillion of servicing controlled by the top 50 servicers in the industry, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. The nonbank share of the top 50 in combined servicing was up from 26.8 percent at the midway point in 2014 and 24.0 percent in September 2013. The nonbank expansion has slowed...[Includes two data charts]
Of the dozen or so mortgage company sales that have been announced over the past two months, just one has involved a servicing portfolio of any size and even that transaction – $1.5 billion of mortgage servicing rights owned by Continental Home Loans – was small. In today’s merger and acquisitions market, it’s all about building loan origination capacity as buyers such as Freedom Mortgage, LoanDepot and Guild Mortgage try to keep growing. Moreover, this thirst for production comes...
The Treasury Department isn’t doing enough to address issues with servicing transfers in the Home Affordable Modification Program, according to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The SIGTARP warned that complaints about servicing transfers are “escalating,” though that’s from a low base, with only 84 complaints from borrowers this year. “The serious problems raised by homeowners include lost and delayed HAMP applications, trial and permanent modifications not being honored, and the miscalculation or misapplication of monthly payments,” the SIGTARP said in a report released last week. The Treasury monitors...
In 2013, Provident Funding Associates of California was the second largest originator of home mortgages through loan brokers, but it has fallen from that high perch in recent quarters. Moreover, there have been recent reports that the privately held nonbank may significantly trim the number of states where it’s willing to accept submissions from brokers. Wholesalers and brokers alike told Inside Mortgage Finance they have heard talk of a large-scale pullout by Provident in multiple states, but have seen nothing definitive. According to agency mortgage-backed securities data compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Provident was active with brokers doing business in 41 states over the first nine months of 2014. One broker trade group official, requesting anonymity, said...
A proposal from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors to increase reporting requirements on state mortgage call reports has been met with strong resistance from a number of lender trade groups. In October, the CSBS proposed collecting additional quarterly information regarding qualified mortgages and servicing, among other data submitted as part of the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry’s mortgage call report. The comment period closed late last week. “We join...
PHH Mortgage may avoid taking a big hit in a legal dispute with a homeowner after the company mishandled his mortgage modification. Last week, in Linza v. PHH Mortgage Corp. et al., Yuba County (CA) Superior Court Judge Stephen Berrier threw out most of the jury’s original $16.2 million verdict against the company, including all punitive damages. Instead, the judge said that homeowner Phillip Linza is entitled to only $159,000 in damages. The case stems...
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia early this week ruled that the Fair Housing Act does not provide for a disparate-impact theory of discrimination. The court’s ruling in American Insurance Association v. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the FHAct only permits disparate treatment as a basis for discrimination. HUD issued...
Private mortgage insurers would welcome the return of conventional 97 percent loan-to-value mortgages from the government-sponsored enterprises, but analysts say it might not be a slam dunk. The private MI industry has been encouraging the GSEs, particularly Fannie Mae, to bring back the 97 percent LTV product to compete with the FHA’s main product, which requires just a 3.5 percent downpayment. For years, Fannie offered...
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