A nonbank wholesaler, Carrington is allowing credit scores as low as 580 for FHA and USDA mortgages, along with some VA loans.

Some analysts believe the $200 billion estimate on flow MSR transactions might be a bit low.

Also, Morgan Stanley recently increased its stake in Arch Capital Group to 6.3 percent. Arch owns CMG Mortgage Insurance, which is being renamed Arch Mortgage Insurance Company.

The entire group is moving to the Connecticut-based nonbank from a company called Mortgage Services, a subsidiary of First State Bank of Mendota, IL.

Orange Capital is a private equity firm that has been gobbling up stakes in PHH Corp. over the past year. A few months back Inside Mortgage Finance first reported that PHH might be a takeover target.

The FHA allows low downpayments on loans that have credit scores as low as 580, but numerous lenders have established their own underwriting overlays to protect against poor performance.

According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance, Lau’s company, Pingora Loan Servicing, has amassed roughly $10 billion in MSRs in less than nine months.

The new service from Freedom Mortgage will handle all aspects of the mortgage transaction, from the initial customer call to closing and servicing of the loan.

The new ownership filing on Walter Investment comes at a time when short interest in nonbank mortgage firms is increasing.

Mark Mozilo, a principal in CALCAP, told IMFnews that he is seeing more competition in the hard money space.