PHH Mortgage has been on the auction block for well over two months now and at least three nonbank buyers have looked at the firm, according to industry advisors close to the company. However, it remains to be seen whether a deal can get done during a year in which residential production could plunge by 30 percent or more. Industry advisors have identified as possible buyers Carrington Mortgage and Ocwen Financial. Both are growth-oriented nonbanks that have been selective buyers of servicing rights and production assets the past few years. At least one other potential buyer has been mentioned...

Hisey, a former Fannie Mae executive, has been given the title of chief strategy and external affairs officer, a newly created position at the nonbank lender/servicer.

Bank of Hawaii is recruiting for a group executive to head its mortgage banking division. Korn Ferry has been hired to conduct the search.

A group called The 60 Plus Association has released TV and radio ads in seven states targeting Senate Banking Committee Members who are sponsoring GSE reform legislation. The group claims the bills “allow the government to take over the mortgage industry in an action 'disturbingly similar' to Obamacare.”

To date, the use of eminent domain to restructure residential loans has garnered a ton of headlines in the financial press, but has posted little in the way of success.

No purchase price on the sale of Allonhill assets to Stewart was ever disclosed. According to the bankruptcy filing, the sale price cannot be revealed for at least 12 months after the sale and will require approvals from both parties.

Whatever happened to the sale of Cole Taylor Mortgage, which has been in the works for nine months or so? Good question. When we asked one source close to the deal, his response was this: “Think of the Energizer Bunny but with fairly old batteries.

The government’s plan to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is wrongheaded and would result in lower housing prices, economic harm and higher unemployment. So says well-regarded bank analyst Richard Bove of Rafferty Capital Markets.

Little else is known about Commerce. The press statement notes that the lender has a “vision of moving forward with a reviving market by offering products backed by a team of professionals with the upmost integrity and knowledge of the industry.”

According to a new research note from Sterne Agee, 65 percent of Altisource’s reported revenue is tied to Ocwen or Ocwen-related companies. “This is a highly symbiotic relationship," writes Stern Agee analyst Henry Coffey.