Two companies that were created earlier in the decade to buy mortgage servicing rights at rock-bottom prices are headed in different directions these days: Seneca Mortgage Servicing is exiting the business, while Pingora Loan Servicing is slated to change hands for the second time in a year. As Inside Mortgage Finance went to press this week, investment banker Houlihan Lokey was involved in direct negotiations to sell Seneca’s $53.6 billion servicing portfolio, which is considered pristine in nature. Investment banking sources said...
The mortgage servicing rules the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau promulgated in the wake of the mortgage market’s collapse brought much-needed stability to the loan servicing arena. But they also have had a host of unplanned side effects that continue to haunt the market to this day. That’s one of the prime takeaways from comments provided by some top lender/servicers and industry trade groups, in response to the CFPB’s announcement that it would begin its five-year assessment of its servicing rules as per the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act. Wells Fargo said...
In the SEC filing, Annaly reveals that it owns servicing assets through an “ongoing joint venture with a leading sovereign wealth fund.” The SWF was not identified…
Mortgage compliance experts are cautioning FHA servicers to tread carefully around loss mitigation, annual certifications and reverse mortgages, which could be a potential minefield for False Claims Act lawsuits. While FHA lenders’ exposure to FCA risk remains, the Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have increased their scrutiny of FHA servicing practices for potential violations, according to Phil Schulman and Krista Cooley, both partners in Mayer Brown’s Washington office. In a recent podcast, Schulman warned of increasing DOJ and HUD scrutiny of FHA servicing practices in the last 18 months, a worrisome shift from the origination side, which has seen an estimated $5 billion in settlements and penalties since 2011 for violations of the FCA and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act. Since 2008, mortgagees participating in ...
According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance, several large nonbanks continue to hire, including Amerihome, Quicken Loans, and United Wholesale Mortgage, among others.
PennyMac and Credit Suisse are revising two master mortgage repurchase agreements to increase the lender’s funding capacity for new loan originations and purchases of mortgage servicing rights, the company disclosed in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In June, PennyMac agreed to revised terms of its master purchase agreement to increase temporarily the maximum committed purchase price to $943 million from $700 million. The amended agreement allows...