CRT Capital Group has begun winding down its mortgage research division, Sterne Agee CRT, casting a shadow over publicly traded residential stocks and dashing the hopes of any nonbanks that were hoping to pull off an initial public offering this year. As one equities researcher told Inside Mortgage Finance this week: “It’s not fun being a stock analyst these days.” And commenting on the recent – and unexpected – drop in rates, he added: “Some of these firms may get smoked.” Four years ago, Sterne Agee was...

Last week, Ocwen Financial agreed to a $30 million settlement with the Department of Justice regarding two lawsuits that alleged violations of the False Claims Act. The lawsuits alleged that Ocwen Loan Servicing and Ocwen’s Homeward Residential division violated the FCA by falsely certifying their compliance with the Home Affordable Modification Program and FHA insurance programs, thus rendering all HAMP incentive and FHA insurance payments on Ocwen- or Homeward-serviced loans false claims. One of the cases was scheduled...

The New York legislature approved a bill late last week that will require servicers handling loans in the state to maintain vacant properties in certain circumstances. The requirements were strongly opposed by the Mortgage Bankers Association. In general, the new law requires servicers of residential mortgages in New York to complete an exterior inspection of properties within 90 days of a borrower’s delinquency to determine the occupancy status of the property. The law also requires ongoing inspections of properties related to severely delinquent mortgages every 25 to 35 days. If the servicer has a reasonable basis to believe that a property is vacant and abandoned, the servicer is...

There’s a growing concern about price discounts on Ginnie servicing rights, and a strong belief that the agency is once again getting anxious about so many nonbanks being such large players in the market.

FHFA examiners suggest that eventually Fannie and Freddie could have a negative net worth position once the capital buffer falls to zero…

Ocwen experienced the greatest percentage decrease in average monthly complaint volume from the first quarter of 2015 to 1Q16. Then again, Ocwen's servicing portfolio has been shrinking.

During his career, Bright has worked for Sen. Bob Corker, who supposedly is on Donald Trump’s short list of VP candidates…

Among those reporting higher application volume is Prosperity Mortgage, the residential lending arm of realty giant Long & Foster...

Subservicing firms now process roughly 16.3 percent of all home mortgages in the U.S., the highest reading since Inside Mortgage Finance began publishing these data two years ago.

Residential servicers should note a greater emphasis in exams on the handling of consumer complaints…