Ocwen Financial plans to resume growing its servicing and originations business by acquiring PHH. The transaction is scheduled to close in the second half of this year. Ocwen plans to acquire PHH with $360.0 million in cash and assume $119.0 million of outstanding corporate debt. According to Ocwen, there will be enough cash on PHH’s balance sheet to fund $260.0 million of the $360.0 million purchase price. Both companies have been struggling ... [Includes one data chart]

Citadel Servicing has increased its portfolio of nonprime mortgages in the past year and has taken steps to improve operations, according to Fitch Ratings. Citadel serviced mortgages with an unpaid principal balance of $1.1 billion as of the end of November, up from a $673.1 million portfolio as of the end of 2016. Some 1.8 percent of Citadel’s portfolio was 30 or more days delinquent as of November, according to Fitch. A significant portion of the portfolio was originated after ...

Delinquency rates on subprime mortgages increased in the third quarter after showing strong improvement earlier in the year. As of the end of September, the subprime delinquency rate was 18.61 percent, according to Black Knight. The rate increased from 16.80 percent in June. As with overall mortgage performance, hurricanes had an impact on subprime delinquencies. And while delinquencies increased, they’re below the 19.03 percent level at ... [Includes one data chart]

The nonprime mortgage-backed security closed by Angel Oak Capital Advisors at the end of November was oversubscribed, according to Lauren Hedvat, director of capital markets at the firm. The $210.2 million AOMT 2017-3 was backed by mortgages originated by Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, Angel Oak Home Loans and Angel Oak Prime Bridge. Non-qualified mortgages accounted for 83.9 percent of the dollar volume in the MBS. Angel Oak said it’s ... [Includes two briefs]

Underwriting standards for subprime mortgages tightened somewhat in the third quarter, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve. One of the four banks surveyed by the Fed reported tightening underwriting standards for subprime mortgages in the third quarter while standards at the other three banks were unchanged compared with the previous quarter.The bankruptcy of the parent company of Ditech Financial is unlikely to have an impact on ... [Includes two briefs]

The Structured Finance Industry Group this week unveiled key performance indicators for deal agents to track in new non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The proposed standards detail 150 measurements for deal agents to monitor. Ocwen Financial reported a net loss of $6.14 million for the third quarter of 2017. The loss would have been worse if not for a one-time tax benefit of $23.2 million related to the release of previously established reserves ... [Includes three briefs]

Ocwen Financial revealed last week that it won’t face enforcement actions from the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding two outstanding investigations. And the nonbank has reached settlements with a number of the state regulators that took actions against the company earlier this year. The SEC was conducting investigations involving Ocwen regarding the use of collection agents and fees and expenses related to liquidated loans and real estate-owned ...

New nonprime originations haven’t been enough to prop up the volume of subprime mortgages outstanding, according to a new ranking by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The top 15 subprime servicers handled an estimated $212.73 billion of the loans as of the end of the second quarter of 2017, down 4.1 percent from the previous quarter and down 18.2 percent from a year ago. None of the servicers posted...[Includes one data table]

Citadel Servicing Corp. recently launched a one-month bank-statement program for self-employed borrowers. While some lenders offer bank-statement programs, borrowers are typically required to provide at least one year of documentation. Citadel stressed that deposits into the borrower’s bank account aren’t the determinant figure to verify income. “Income is attested to and declared [by the borrower], a Citadel underwriter will confirm that ... [Includes three briefs]

Ocwen Financial reported a net loss of $44.44 million for the second quarter of 2017, with legal issues accounting for a large portion of the loss. The nonbank also agreed on terms with New Residential Investment to transfer mortgage servicing rights on non-agency mortgages. Ocwen had a $33.60 million expense in the quarter tied to legal settlements. “We settled additional legacy litigation matters further reducing future uncertainty,” said Ron Faris, the company’s president and CEO ...