Several mid-sized nonbanks that earned a ton of money during the refi boom of the past two years are in the hunt to buy the production assets of other companies, hoping to snatch additional market share away from commercial banks. Moreover, some mortgage advisors that ply their trade in the mergers and acquisitions space believe that unless origination volumes improve rapidly, the “roll-up” of the mortgage industry could be fierce by the end of 2014. According to recent production figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, the residential finance industry is coming off its worst origination quarter in 14 years. Rick Roque, a principal in the boutique advisory firm Menlo Company Global, anticipates...

Since late last year, the FHFA has required that any Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac MSR sale of $5 billion or more – roughly 5,000 loans – be approved by the agency.

Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer told IMFnews that the sale will clear once “missing files” are cleaned up by Bank of America.

Over the past six months, CashCall has laid off several hundred workers, but continues to advertise in local media markets in Southern California.

At one shop based in the Midwest there’s unconfirmed talk of loan officers who haven’t been paid for months, unpaid leases and top executives who were on vacation as volumes collapsed.

Company Chief Executive Michael Lau noted that Pingora is taking in roughly $2.5 billion a month through “flow” arrangements.

However, a new research report from Sterne Agee notes: “We see the DFS as the primary log jam on the servicing transfer front.”

Fitch said OneWest found a new buyer for 12,000 mortgages in 39 non-agency MBS that didn’t receive consents as part of the planned transfer to Ocwen.

During a recent webinar on MSR strategies, industry attorney Larry Platt of K&L Gates said he knows of “certain sales that have been held up for quite some time.” He noted: “You really can’t get a handle on what the cause of it is.”

Bad news for Nationstar and Ocwen? S&P said downgrades on servicer-advance ABS are possible because the analysis that accompanied ratings on certain deals didn’t consider subordinated interest amounts as part of the ratable promise.