MSR

A trade group is looking into why New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo felt foreclosure risks were too high to sign a bill that would have approved reverse mortgages for cooperative properties.

A federal judge in Florida dismissed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's lawsuit against Ocwen Financial Services, stating the agency improperly asserted an excessive number of claims without specifying the particular count to which they applied.

Mr. Cooper Group reported a second-quarter net loss of $87 million as the company took a $231 million fair value hit to its mortgage servicing rights portfolio.

New Residential Investment Corp. took a $32 million net loss in the second quarter as it diversified its business lines and repositioned to protect its mortgage servicing rights from falling rates.

Will the runoff of MSRs leave a hole in the capital of the mortgage finance industry?

The mortgage agency has hired Eric Blankenstein, who sparked controversy while at the consumer bureau over past revelations of racially charged writings.

Prepayment speeds for loans included in agency mortgage-backed securities were up approximately 20% both monthly and annually during May as the decline in interest rates boosted activity, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

Private-label mortgage securitizations with variable servicing fee arrangements could become more common going forward as issuers look to increase investor cash flow while reducing the loan servicer's economic exposure, Fitch said.

Freddie Mac's latest nonperforming mortgage auction will include one pool targeted to smaller investors like nonprofit organizations.

Caliber Home Loans settled a grievance with the Massachusetts attorney general over allegations of providing distressed borrowers with unaffordable loan modifications.

The moves are part of an ongoing effort by the Seattle bank to largely exit mortgage lending.

Now that Ocwen settled the servicing practices lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts attorney general, just two outstanding complaints remain from the 30 filed nearly two years ago.

Freddie Mac exchanged existing bonds from its portfolio for mirror certificates for the first time, completing a key test that is central to the creation of a uniform mortgage-backed security.

Two Harbors Investment Corp., which grew its servicing portfolio by 22% in the fourth quarter, priced a common stock offering to raise funds to buy more rights as well as mortgage-backed securities.

The company disclosed that it paid $146 million for servicing rights associated with $13 billion in mortgages.

New Residential priced its second stock offering in four months, looking for gross proceeds of nearly $665 million.

HomeStreet Bank will attempt to sell its stand-alone mortgage business and portfolio of servicing rights, a move that comes amid growing pressure from an activist investor to exit home lending and concerns about declining demand and regulatory challenges.

Mr. Cooper Group is buying servicing rights on $24 billion in mortgages, a subservicing contract for an additional $24 billion in home loans and the Seterus platform from IBM.

Nonbank lenders are gearing up for new secondary market requirements and must make some difficult choices about whether to buy, sell or hold mortgage servicing rights, says Ruth Lee, the executive vice president of MorVest Capital.

The REIT is purchasing another $500 million of credit risk transfer notes through Fannie's L Street Securities program; this is its first deal rated by Fitch.