We understand that when stock analysts meet with Ocwen management, executives at the nonbank usually tell them to not even ask about the deal.

Since the housing bust, very few mortgage firms have securitized MSRs, though they have used securitization vehicles for advances.

Roughly 25 percent of lenders said they hope to enter the home equity lending market over the next 12 months.

A number of banks have been motivated to reduce their MSR holdings because of concentration limits imposed by the emerging Basel risk capital rules.

CitiMortgage performed the worst on the assessment of non-agency HAMP activity for the second quarter of 2014, with the Treasury claiming that the servicer needs to make substantial improvements.

MBA's Gross noted that the cost of changing external auditors is “significant,” both for large and small seller/servicers, whether they are public or not.

One question we occasionally hear is this one: If the GOP this fall gains control of the Senate can’t they just push through a GSE reform bill and hope to override a presidential veto, if there is one?

There are signs of life in mortgage hiring, depending on the job description. Firms looking to increase staff levels include the lending arm of Bayview Asset Management, Citadel Loan Servicing and Carrington Mortgage Services.

“The CFPB’s plan will feature only one side of the story, and such one-sided accounts will not advance the CFPB’s mission of better informing and helping consumers,” said FSR chief Tim Pawlenty.

Ever since the housing bust, mortgage bankers have coveted the Ginnie Mae “eagle,” which allows them to issue and service the agency’s MBS, but the pipeline of new applications is slowing. According to figures provided to Inside MBS & ABS, the agency had received 78 new applications through the end of July compared to 89 in fiscal 2013 and 99 the prior year. In an interview with this newsletter, Ginnie President Ted Tozer acknowledged the decline in applications, but didn’t seem all that concerned, adding: “I think we received a bunch recently.” In other words, applications could wind up...