Firms that evaluate mortgage servicing rights and facilitate their sales had a record year in 2013 in transaction volume, according to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance. And although many are expecting a strong year in 2014, the deal volume likely will subside. Still, Interactive Mortgage Advisors, MountainView Servicing Group and Phoenix Capital – among others MSR brokers – are making hay while the sun shines. Combined, the three sold or bought...

Some of the largest servicers could be violating fair-lending laws, according to an analysis by a the Government Accountability Office, while an alphabet soup of federal regulators overseeing fair lending issues appears to be treating servicing concerns like a hot potato. In a report issued late last week, the GAO said its analysis of loan-level data for the four largest servicers participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program suggests that there are fair-lending concerns that merit further examination. While the GAO didn’t identify the servicers, the four largest HAMP servicers are Ocwen Loan Servicing, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, according to the Treasury. The GAO found...

Two nonbanks among the top five servicers now control almost 9 percent of the residential receivables market. Should regulators be worried? Should the MBA?

One area on the bureau’s short list is compliance under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

The survey, conducted through the IMF website, also found that 35 percent of participants plan to sell “some” of their MSRs, but only as needed.

The firm recently launched Parkside Mortgage Trust, a REIT that will purchase non-agency loans originated by its affiliate.

Matt Monahan is expected to aid HL as it tries to take advantage of a red hot market for servicing sales. A former deal maker at Cohane Rafferty Securities, he will beef-up HL’s mortgage sales force.

Why are speculators shorting mortgage stocks? Answer: The "servicing trade" might be over, but not everyone believes that.

IMA is out with a new $1.294 billion package of bulk Ginnie Mae MSRs, plus a monthly “flow” deal that could net a buyer an additional $900 million in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and Ginnie rights.

Mortgage companies with back-office operations overseas don't have to worry about the CFPB examining their off-shore staff, at least not anytime soon.