For the first time in nearly three years, commercial banks and thrifts increased their mortgage servicing rights accounts during the fourth quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call reports. At the end of last year, banks serviced residential mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of $4.416 trillion for other investors, an increase of $3.6 billion from the third quarter. That represents a tiny 0.08 percent increase ... [Includes one data chart]

Altisource Residential and Altisource Asset Management abruptly cancelled their scheduled earnings calls this week as the firms work on modifying an asset management agreement. Both of the companies have ties to Ocwen Financial, which has faced its own operating issues in recent months. “Despite the negative headlines surrounding our primary mortgage servicer Ocwen, our performance has remained strong,” said Ashish Pandey, AR’s CEO. The real estate investment trust had ...

Subservicing vendors increased their contracts by 23.1 percent in terms of dollar volume over the past year and now process an estimated $1.12 trillion of home mortgages, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. When it comes to market share, subservicers control 12.3 percent of all U.S. housing receivables. According to interviews with industry executives, compliance costs are...[Includes one data chart]

The days of it being a seller’s market for mortgage banking franchises appears to be over, with current owners are increasingly unwilling to part with their companies at reduced prices. As one merger-and-acquisitions specialist put it, “It’s just hard getting deals done these days.” It looks like a case of supply and demand – and, of course, cash. At the very least, sellers want to receive book value for their companies plus some type of “earn-out” that could last up to 10 years. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance over the past week, the ratio of buyers to sellers has...

A major snag on getting deals completed is the "earn-out" agreement.

HUD is seeking authority for the FHA to require, in certain instances, institutions with less expertise in servicing to hand off that function to a specialized servicer...

Most people who are not in straight-jackets believe the chances of GSE reform by 2016 are pretty much zero. Just in case you were wondering and needed a reminder…

NYCB Mortgage Co. is the top contributor to the jumbo MBS with a 13.5 percent share.

A major cross-selling opportunity? A report from Credit Suisse notes that, “Every month, JGW receives over 60,000 inbound calls from consumers…”

The Supreme Court decision on overtime pay for loan officers is just over 48 hours old, but already some companies are fearing the worst...