Servicing costs have risen dramatically this decade, but maybe there’s light at the end of the tunnel…

At PHH, from 2014 to 2017, Minton held the title of senior vice president and chief information officer.

A higher dividend than what Fannie and Freddie pay?

Given the Trump administration’s expressed interest in scaling back federal regulation and giving corporate interests greater freedom to conduct their business as they see fit, political and legal observers expect the Department of Justice to respond in the affirmative to a recent judicial invitation to formally opine on Ocwen Financial’s dispute with the CFPB. The nonbank mortgage servicer recently asked Judge Kenneth Marra with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to invite the U.S. attorney general to appear and to participate in the company’s challenge to the constitutionality of the bureau.“There are at least two clear reasons to invite the attorney general to participate here,” said the company. “First, inviting the views of the attorney ...

Ten years after the financial crisis, the residential mortgage servicing industry could be on “the edge of glory,” according to a new report from S&P Global Ratings. “With the regulatory heat they’ve received in the past decade, servicers are working to ensure they’re compliant with all relevant servicing regulations,” said the S&P analysts. “Even if some deficiencies occur, as might happen when servicing thousands or millions of accounts, quickly correcting them and preventing recurrence is key because reputational damage alone can be quite substantial and long-lasting.” In recent years, mortgage servicers have been slapped with fines totaling tens of millions of dollars, and face an increasingly tougher regulatory and supervisory regime. “A positive outcome of the settlements and new regulations ...

Although Fannie and Freddie continue to earn money hand over fist, their common shares are probably worth just $1 a piece, according to a new research report…

Provident noted that overcapacity is putting pressure on origination margins…

Industry consultant Joe Garrett, in a new company newsletter, says he’s still bothered that “so few mortgage companies” don’t have budgets.

Will He? Won’t He? Run for Governor of Ohio, That Is. The top consumer regulator in the land, Richard Cordray, head of the CFPB, has until 4 p.m. Feb. 7, 2018, to file the necessary paperwork to run in the Ohio gubernatorial primary in May of next year. Current Republican Gov. John Kasich is term-limited and will have to vacate the governor’s mansion at the end of 2018.... CFPB Fines JPMorgan Chase $4.6 Million for Alleged Failures Related to Checking Account Screening Information. The CFPB recently brought an enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase Bank, alleging that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not having adequate policies in place regarding the accuracy of information it provided to nationwide specialty consumer reporting companies about individuals’ checking account behavior....

The clock is ticking on the phrase-out of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR, a benchmark the mortgage market has relied on for the past few decades. Now comes the debate: is it something to worry about or no big deal? A new report from Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggests that when it comes to MBS at least, the changes will be felt, depending on the sector. “Certain agency MBS cash flows will be impacted directly,” BAML notes. “For example, underlying cash flows on LIBOR-indexed hybrid ARMs may change if an alternate index is chosen.” The researchers noted...