Servicing

Servicers are bracing for a challenging future where the way they redefine their risk-pricing measures will determine their ability to survive.

PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., reported net earnings of $181 million for the fourth quarter and $48 million for the full year 2010, helped by strong performance in its mortgage segment, company executives said.

After months of infighting, the federal banking agencies have reached an agreement on risk retention standards that would include some new rules for servicers, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The Obama administration has gained plaudits from even conservative critics by calling for the dismantling of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But a growing number of observers are arguing that one of the Treasury Department's proposed replacements is effectively the same system by another name.

The nation's top three ranked mortgage bankers are marking down the asset value of their servicing portfolios faster than their receivables are running off, according to figures compiled by National Mortgage News.

When the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced its interest in overhauling how servicers are paid, it didn't provide much in the way of public detail.

Big banks and Washington aren't on the same page—again.

Redwood Trust, the only firm to dip its toe back into the jumbo MBS market, earned $15 million in the fourth quarter, a 63% decline from the same period a year earlier.

The Obama Administration is willing to start the process of winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but it must be done gradually over as many as five to seven years to prevent disruptions to the mortgage market and the economic recovery, according to a high ranking Treasury Department official.

Real estate valuation provider PCV Murcor has hit its 30-year anniversary.