MSR

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.

Fund manager Varde Partners wants to grow its partnerships with lenders and servicers interested in selling off their excess mortgage servicing rights.

Intensifying margin pressure could spur another wave of cost-cutting at nonbank mortgage lenders, unless other strategies, like consolidation or a mortgage servicing book that could increase in value, offset it.

MountainView Financial Solutions is brokering a more than $3 billion package of Fannie Mae and government mortgage servicing rights originated primarily through third-party origination channels.

AmeriHome GMSR Issuer Trust, consists of $155 million of fixed-rate, five-year notes and $500 million of two-year variable funding notes; it is modeled on deals by PennyMac.

The company is marketing another $550 million of bonds backed by MSRs; proceeds will be used to repay the remaining $500 million of notes issued last year at wider spreads.

The deal is designed to improve capital ratios and reduce risk at the Seattle company.

Ginnie Mae is looking to start a pilot program to securitize digital mortgages as early as 2019, but issuers would not be able to commingle loans using traditional paper files in those deals.

Government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in a race to offer services and technology that help mortgage bankers raise cash from mortgage servicing rights.

Freddie Mac has quietly started extending credit to nonbanks that issue mortgages, a move it says will help the companies maintain access to a crucial stockpile of cash if their home loans go sour.

Ocwen Financial Corp. got back in the black during the first quarter after selling New Residential Investment Corp. $110 million in economic rights to mortgage servicing.